Kin
by Fairyfinder
Summary: Susan Mort is a normal kid living in New York City with her mom, but all of that changes when she discovers who her father actually is. She is dragged into the excitement of Avengers and Asgardians and she has the feeling nothing will ever be the same again.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know I shouldn't be starting another story when I still have To Trick a Trickster left to finish as well as other things, but this idea just occurred to me and I had to write it down. If you don't like stories where an OC is related to one of the canon characters then this is not the story for you and you might want to leave. Anyway, I hope anyone who sticks around likes the story. I'm not sure exactly what is going to happen, but I just had to get out this idea. Thanks for reading!**

Susan Mort covered her ears and heaved a dramatic sigh as her mother jabbered on the phone while Susan tried to do her homework. Her mother was talking to her boyfriend, Max, and all of the giggles were getting to the fifteen year old.

For as long as Susan could remember it had just been her and her mother. There was an occasional boyfriend thrown in the mix, but they never lasted long. Ms. Mort, who went by Amy to all, had met this Max fellow six months previous and he seemed to be her first serious boyfriend. At least since Susan's father, who Susan had never met and didn't even know the name of.

"Why, that sounds like fun, Max!" Amy giggled, "Alright, see you then, bye."

Susan rolled her eyes and completed the math problem she was working on. She set aside the math book and notes and looked up to her mother. "Where are you going with Max?"

"Hmm? Oh, he invited us both to go get dinner, doesn't that sound like fun? We might go see a film afterward."

"Yeah, sure. What movie?"

"I don't know. What's showing?" Amy sat on the other stool at the counter, "What do you want to see?"

"Um, how about _The Hobbit_? I heard that's pretty good." Susan flipped through her history textbook and stopped on a picture of a viking. She began taking notes, occasionally snacking on a Gold Fish cracker.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Amy asked, swiping a cracker, "Do you not want to hang out with Max tonight?"

"No, that sounds like fun, it's just…" Susan sighed, "Nevermind."

"Come on Susie, you can tell me, I won't judge."

"Mom, I was just thinking, when can I meet my father? Max is really great, but I want to know what my real dad is like - or at least what his name is." Susan glanced at her mother, knowing this question would get the usual response that it was a sensitive topic.

"Susie…" Amy groaned, "Do we have to do this now? Two hours before we have to go out?"

"I just think I deserve to know at some point in my life. Do you at least have a picture?"

"You know very well that I do not have a photograph of him. To be honest, I can't quite recall what he looks like." Amy got up and washed her hands in the sink.

"Really? You can't remember even the smallest detail about what my _father_ looks like?" Susan said sarcastically.

"Why does it matter? It won't change anything to know who your father is or what he looks like. He is still MIA and a jerk, right?" Amy snapped.

"Mom, just give the most basic description. Hair color? Eye color? Height? Anything!"

Sighing loudly, Amy put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "His hair was jet black, and his eyes were a sparkly blue just like yours. He was tall, which explains why you are a whole head taller than me. Is that enough information for you?"

"For now," Susan smiled. This was the most information she had ever gotten from her mother on the topic of whoever Susan's dad was, "We'd better get ready to go, huh?" She stood and swept her books into her backpack. Amy stopped her for a moment and looked in her eyes.

"Do you like Max? Really? I normally can tell if you like my boyfriends or not, but I can't get any sort of reading from you about Max."

Susan smiled brightly. "You know, I really do like him. He's charming and nice, which makes him perfect for my mom."

"What about opposites attracting?"

"Pssshh!" Susan waved the thought away, "We're people, not magnets. Besides, I ship you and Max cause you're so cute together."

"Ship us? My goodness, it must be serious."

They both laughed and then went off to get all dolled up for the evening out on the town. Susie pulled her favorite sweater and slacks out of the closet and slipped into them. After she'd brushed her hair and teeth and then put on a little makeup she made sure to put on the necklace Max had gotten her as a hello-I'm-your-mom's-new-boyfriend-present. It was a silver colored chain with small blue bird pendant that matched Susan's eyes. She wanted to show Max that she actually liked his gift and that she didn't mind if he stuck around. He was a good guy.

Later that evening, Susan, Amy, and Max were enjoying some dinner in a small, but classy restaurant in New York City. It wasn't hard to find great food in the city and it was one of the reasons Susan loved living there. That and the other bits of culture. She had plans to one day perform on Broadway, but that was probably a long way off.

"So… Amy would you like to get dessert?" Max asked slyly. When her mom wasn't looking he winked at Susan. Both of them knew what would be in the desert and it made Susan very excited.

"Yeah Mom, you should get some dessert!" The teen giggled.

"Oh, but what about my diet? I shouldn't…" The mother glanced at the menu and the photographic depictions of creamy, chocolatey, _delicious_ desserts, "Well… okay."

They summoned the waiter and Max ordered three ice cream treats. Susan and Max couldn't stop grinning when they saw the waiter come back with their food. Amy didn't seem to notice. Once the sweets were in front of them Susan couldn't even pick up her spoon to begin eating she was so excited. Max didn't touch his ice cream either. Amy looked down at her ice cream hungrily and then gasped.

"What's this?" She picked up a ring that had a slight spattering of fudge on it and held it out to Max for him to explain.

"Amy Mort, you make me happy beyond belief, would you make me happier than any man before and marry me?" Max asked, dropping to one knee. Susan smiled happily and the other costumers of the restaurant grinned as well. Amy had tears forming in her eyes and she looked to her daughter.

"Are you okay with this, Susie? Did you know he was gonna do that?"

"Yeah Mom, he asked me yesterday if it was okay with me and I helped him plan it."

"Oh my gosh, Max, if Susan agrees then of course I will marry you!" The other costumers cheered and the couple kissed. Susan smugly took a bite of her ice cream. She had never had any sweeter.

* * *

A week later, wedding plans were underway and Amy was stressed out. It was spring break, so Susan was home. The girl thought this would be helpful, but it turned out that what Amy actually needed was some alone time to get everything planned. Max swooped in and saved the day. He said that he had a business meeting in Germany and he wondered if Susan would go with him.

"It will give us a chance to do some bonding." He laughed when Susan excitedly said yes. So they packed their bags and gathered their passports. They left the USA and were headed for Germany in no time. Susan was having one of the best weeks of her life. She'd have a dad soon and she got to travel out of America for the first time. How could anything possibly get better?

When they arrived at the hotel they'd be staying at Max payed for two single rooms right next to each other and then helped Susan get settled in.

"I have to go to a meeting today, but tomorrow evening I got us tickets to a grand event out on the town. I hope you packed something nice?"

"I was wondering why my mom put my party dress into my bag! This is seriously awesome, Max. Thank you so much!" Susan gave him a hug and then he headed off for his meeting.

After spending a whole day exploring the German hotel, Susan was content to go to bed as soon as Max got back. She said goodnight and jumped into bed. It was so exciting to be in a different country that she barely got a wink of sleep. When she woke up in the morning she was tired, but thrilled to be spending the day with her future dad in Germany.

The day was filled with sightseeing and tourism and began to draw to a close when they got dressed up at the hotel and then headed out to their grand event. The car dropped them off at a beautiful building, that's purpose Susan was unsure of. They entered the building and the life of glamour enveloped them.

* * *

Loki of Asgard was watching the well dressed Midgardians below him as they enjoyed their little soiree. He chuckled lightly, if only they knew what was coming for them. Complete terror and fear. Agent Barton required a scan of a certain man's eyeball to unlock the vault that would allow for them to stabilize the Tesseract and Loki had taken the opportunity to declare his presence amongst the people of earth.

He recalled the last time he was on Midgard. Not many knew, but he had once snuck to the realm and met a woman by the name of Amy. They'd fallen in love and spent, ahem, some time together. It had been approximately fifteen Midgardian years since that time. Loki had left quickly when his father summoned him back to Asgard.

Loki scowled. Odin had summoned him. Odin was not his father.

As the thoughts of the Midgardian woman filled his head he glanced once more out across the room and blinked in shock. Could it be? How in the nine realms was it possible? He had just thought of her and now Amy was in this very room? Surely it was not her! She had the same lovely auburn hair and many of the same facial features, but her eyes were blue. Loki swallowed nervously as his mind processed this. Blue like his own eyes.

"Nay, fool." He whispered to himself. Foolish thoughts could not cloud his vision now, not when he was so close to victory. He looked once more to the woman and noticed that she was actually a girl of about fifteen years… Had it not been fifteen years since he had met the Midgardian woman? The timing, the facial features of this girl… it all fit.

"But how could she possibly be here tonight at this precise time?" Loki asked to no one in particular. He shook his head as if to clear his mind, but he knew that he would be distracted until he knew for sure. Could this girl be his own daughter? It was ludacris, was it not? But still, she did have certain features that reminded him of the face in the mirror.

Since it was far from the time he would need to scan the eye for Barton Loki cloaked himself in a human guise and transported to the floor below the balcony he'd been on. He briskly approached the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and faced him and he briefly let most of his disguise drop so she could see his face.

"Pardon me, but may I ask your name?" He smiled politely.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" The girl asked, glancing around with a hint of nervousness.

"Perhaps. Your name please?"

"I'm Susan Mort, I'm here with my, uh… dad. His name is Maxwell Quigley," The girl said, pulling at her cap sleeves anxiously, "He should be around here someplace."

"Mort and Quigley? You have different surnames." Loki pointed out.

"Yes well," She looked him in the eye, "He's _going_ to be my dad when he marries my mother. My stepfather, if you want to get technical," Susan squinted at him, "You look familiar."

"How old are you?" Loki snapped, not wanting to waste time if this was not who he thought it was.

"Uh, I don't see how this is relevant," She frowned and waved to a person across the room. A man in a suit came over and smiled. He offered his hand to Loki.

"Hi, I'm Max Quigley. This is my stepdaughter, Susan, but I see that you've met. Do we know you from someplace?" The man asked politely.

"I don't know you, but I might know the young lady. Tell me, what is your mother's name, Miss Mort?"

"Amy Mort."

"And you are how old?"

"I still don't see how that is relevant…" Susan said, but the man - Quigley - gave an answer at the same time.

"Fifteen, right Susie?"

"Yeah," Susan rolled her eyes, "I think I'll go get another hors d'oeuvre." She looked once more at Loki and then went off to get her food. Loki looked the gentleman before him over and frowned.

"You are engaged to her mother?"

"Yes, I'm quite the lucky fellow." Quigley smiled.

"Indeed," Loki raised an eyebrow.

"So how do you know Susan?"

The Asgardian smirked slightly and looked the other man in the eye. "I'm her father."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter two! Tell me what you think, dearest readers, but keep in mind that even if you despise this story to your core, I will keep writing it purely for my own enjoyment. So, in other words, constructive criticism would be nice. Enjoy!**

Susan carefully studied the raven haired man and Max from across the room. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something eerily familiar about the stranger. When she had been a little girl every strange, handsome man had become her imaginary father, but now that Max was going to be her father she had stopped longing to meet her real father. She hoped to meet him one day, but she no longer fantasized about it. Seeing this man that perfectly fit her mother's description of her father, however, had her thinking illogical thoughts. Susan wondered if it was possible that she could run into her biological father while on a trip with her soon-to-be stepfather. It certainly wasn't probable.

The man said something to Max with a smirk on his face and Max just about dropped his glass of champagne. Susan narrowed her eyes suspiciously as the stranger looked her way. He had a sort of proud fatherly gaze, but that could have been her imagination. Max seemed to have recovered from his shock and was now looking very sternly at the tall dark haired stranger. However, the stranger was headed toward Susan, ignoring whatever Max was saying.

Susan began to feel very uncomfortable. The man was focused on her and coming closer, an eerie grin on his face. Max was following closely behind, saying something that Susan couldn't quite make out over the din of the party. An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach and she made the decision that it would be best if she got away from this weird guy. After all, he could be anybody. Just because he was at a high class social event didn't mean he was a high class socialite. So, she slipped into the crowd and attempted to disappear amongst the German party goers. Her efforts were not as effective as she had hoped because the man found her anyway.

"Miss Mort, there is something I must tell you." He hissed in her ear, pulling her out of Max's line of vision.

Susan, being a reasonable girl, yelped or help. No one even looked her way. The man let go of her arm and looked her in the eye, smiling slightly.

"Leave me alone, you creep!" She cried.

"Hush, there is just one thing that I must tell you, I mean you no harm," He gave her a stern look, "But first may I just say that 'Susan' is a tasteless name?"

"Excuse me?" She hadn't expected him to say that.

"You look more like a Sigrid."

"What the heck? Why are you telling me this?"

"Has your mother ever told you who your father is?"

"No, why do you care?" Susan's stomach filled with butterflies. What was this man trying to tell her? Did he know her father? Or was he her…?

"Poor girl, mislead just like me. My mother never let me know who my real father was either. The answer wasn't exactly something I was proud of, and for a while you may feel the same. Particularly after what I am about to do," He pushed back a strand of his black hair and bent a little to look her in the eye, "But you'll understand eventually."

"What are you saying?" Susan asked, slightly horrified.

"You haven't guessed yet? I am your father."

The whole world began to spin for Susan and she felt her knees give way. She grabbed for the first thing she could, which happened to be the man's arm, to steady herself.

"No, you're lying." She whispered.

"Nay. I may be the god of tricks and lies, but I am telling you nothing but the truth at this moment," He smirked once more and looked in her eyes, "You are exquisite."

"The god of what?" She snorted at the title despite her shock, "I think my youth pastor would disagree."

The stranger ignored her comment. "I will call you Sigrid. You may call me Father, of course, but my name is Loki. Sigrid Lokidaughter, a pretty name, don't you think?"

"Loki? What on earth are you talking about? Like the norse deity? Tricks and lies… oh my gosh - you're crazy. You think you're a norse god and you think you're my father," Susan gasped, laughing slighty, "Well the joke is on you, pal. I've been studying Norse mythology and the daughter of Loki is named Hel, not Sigrid."

His expression darkened. "I am not inventing these tales. It is the truth. I know not who this 'Hel' is, but you are my daughter as well as the daughter of Amy Mort. Half human and half…" He hesitated, "Asgardian."

"You are madder than a hatter, leave me alone." She swiftly turned away from him and found Max.

"Susan, are you alright?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, that guy just thought I was somebody else." Susan looped her arm in Max's and left the odd man behind, hoping never to see him again.

* * *

Loki scowled as his daughter walked away from him with Quigley. She did not believe him. The more time he spent with her, the more evident it became that his guess had been correct. Her eyes and certain facial expressions were exactly the same as his. It should have been a joyous moment when father and daughter met for the first time, but Loki knew she would not believe him until she saw for herself. Besides, he had work to do if he was to bring the Chitauri army to Midgard. Even his daughter could not get in the way of that.

Agent Barton would almost be in position by now and he needed to scan the eyeball soon. He transported back to the balcony and tried to focus on his target, but his eyes kept wandering back to Sigird. He couldn't help the irrational jealousy that built up whenever he saw her enjoying the company of the human man Quigley. He told himself to forget her for the time being. If he could just secure the Tesseract then he worry about procuring his daughter.

A small radio in his ear informed him that now was the time for him to scan the man's eyeball. The thought of causing foolish Midgardian's pain brought a smile to his face and he strolled down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs he used his cane, which was the scepter in disguise, to smack a guard. The people, who had previously been listening to a speech turned in horror. Loki swept through the crowd and grabbed the man he was looking for, Dr. Heinrich Schnfer, and roughly dragged him to a statue of a bull in the middle of the room. For this whole time the orchestra did not stop their lively tune. Loki pulled a device from the pocket of his human garb and opened it with a shake. He jabbed it into the doctor's eye and grinned slightly at the panic around him. When he glanced up from his gruesome task he notice that Susan - Sigrid - was staring in terror at him. Quigley approached and pulled the girl away, but she was still staring. For good measure, Loki winked.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow, three chapters in one evening. That must be some kind of record. Okay, just a little warning here, this chapter gets pretty violent, hence the T rating. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: (I totally forgot to put this on the last two chapters but it applies to the whole story.) I do not own Avengers! That is all.**

Susan felt sick to her stomach. That man who had claimed to be her father was… well she wasn't sure exactly what she was doing to that man, but it looked painful. Then the dark haired man looked up at her with a smirk of satisfaction on his face. They held each other's gaze for a moment and then Max began to drag her out of the building along with the fleeing masses. Just before she was out of view of the terrifying man he winked at her. This made her feel sicker yet.

When Susan and Max made it outside with all of the other people from the building they assumed they would be safe, they began to rush from the area, but before anyone could get far the man who claimed to be Loki stepped out in the square, now it full gold and green armor. When the people went one direction he appeared there by some form of magic or technology - Susan didn't know which, but it was terrifying whatever it was. When the people were sufficiently herded the man spoke.

"Kneel before me!" He ordered. No one obliged to this command. Susan was trembling as she felt his eyes on her. It seemed as if he was putting on this show just to prove to her what he actually was. He slammed his staff down on the ground and three copies of himself spread around them, corralling them like animals, "I said… _kneeeeeeel!_" This time not a soul hesitated to do as he commanded. Even in their finery, the German people got down on their knees and tried not to look the man in the armor in the eye.

Susan kneeled along with the rest of the people, as did Max. Neither of them wanted to be picked out at this time, for who knew what the madman was capable of doing? Susan trembled and Max wrapped his arm around her shoulder in a comforting way.

"Is not this simpler?" The man before them asked smugly. He began to walk through the crowd like a king amongst his subjects, "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you _crave _subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end you will always kneel…"

Susan shuddered as he passed by her and his cloak brushed her arm. To think, she had been having a conversation with this crazy guy less than twenty minutes ago. A scarier thought was that this display of power proved what he said was true. He was Loki of the old Norse myths. If he hadn't been lying about that then why would he lie about being her father? He wouldn't and that thought made Susan more afraid than she had ever been in her life.

* * *

It gave Loki great satisfaction to see the Midgardians bowing before him - on their knees in a pathetic surrender to his power. As he walked above these worthless creatures a head of auburn hair caught his attention. Sigrid. She kneeled with the rest of them, with the man named Quigley's arm wrapped around her shoulders to keep her from trembling. Whether she trembled from cold or fear he did not know, but seeing that man's arm on _his _child's shoulders made him angry. Before he moved on through the crowd he decided to deal with this issue then and there. It would do no good to leave loose ends when he was king of this wretched lot.

"You there," He called out, tapping Quigley with his scepter harshly, "Rise."

The man took a shuddering breath and took his hand off of Sigrid and standing up. He did not meet Loki's gaze, which only served to irritate the Asgardian more. He extended his scepter once more and used the curved blade to lift the Midgardian's face so their eyes met.

"What do they call you?" Loki asked, as if he did not know, as if the name wasn't seared into his mind in jealousy.

"Maxwell Quigley, of New York." Quigley said in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Well then, Maxwell Quigley of New York," Loki mocked, "What do you think of my little speech here? Do you agree that humanity craves subjugation?"

* * *

Susan held her breath. _Just say yes, Max, my mom needs you to come back to her. Just say yes, just say yes!_

"No. Freedom may 'diminish our joy', but it's one of the only things that keeps us going." Max said bravely. Susan felt like smacking him silly. How could he be so stupid and brave? Now was not the time to be courageous, now was the time to do as the big scary man said and hope he passed them by.

"Oh? Is this what you believe deeply? Does this belief define your very being?"

Max nodded confidently. "Yes."

The man with the curly horned helmet smiled and thrust the scepter forward, piercing Max's throat and making him crumple to his knees. Susan let out a shocked cry and scrambled over to where the body had fallen.

"Max! No, no, no! Max! Don't do this!" Susan cried, tears welling as she held his head in her lap, "Mom needs you to make it back home Max, you can't do this." She began whispering hoarsely. As she held his lifeless form the man in the armor - Loki - moved forward once more.

"Yes, you will always kneel, whether you like to or not."

An old man stood and boldly declared that they would not kneel to men like him.

"There are no men like me." Loki smirked.

"There are always men like you."

"Look to your elder people," He gestured to the old man with his staff and then at Max's bloody corpse with his other hand, "And the brave among you. Let them be an example."

Susan feared for the old man as a blue energy surge welled in the staff and then shot toward him. Then out of no where a man in an outfit that rather resembled the American flag jumped in front of the man with a red, white, and blue shield and reflected the blast. It hit Loki and knocked him to the ground, right by Susan's side. She screamed, but did not leave Max. Her brain could not accept the fact that her soon to be stepfather was gone so she stayed by his side.

"You know," Said the man in the American flag suit, "The last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everyone else… we ended up disagreeing."

Loki glared at the man before him. "The soldier," He laughed, rising to his feet, "The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time." The man grunted and a jet swooped out of the night sky and aimed it's guns at Loki. Susan cringed, she hoped there would not be a fight, she couldn't leave Max here alone.

"Loki," A voice from the jet called, "Drop the weapon and stand down."

* * *

Loki was slightly irritated to be interrupted whilst making an example of the old man and Sigrid's stepfather, but he supposed in the long run it was all part of the plan so he let it go. When the jet flew down and ordered him to drop his scepter he glanced at Sigrid, who was at his feet. Her hands were covered in Quigley's blood and there were tears streaking her face. The smallest pinch of guilt sparked in Loki's heart, but he quickly pushed it aside and fired a shot at the jet. The blue energy just missed. Captain America threw his shield and it bounced off of Loki's chest. While Loki was recovering all of the crowd rushed away to safety and the soldier ran forward and hit him in the face.

Loki noticed that Sigrid did not move, only cowered over the corpse. It would not do to have his daughter wounded in this inevitable duel, he must get her to safety before retaliating against the captain. Quickly, Loki bent down and picked Sigrid up by her arm. The poor, foolish captain was unsure of what to do now that it appeared Loki had a hostage.

"I am sorry, Sigrid, but I am doing this for reasons beyond your comprehension." Loki whispered. Before the girl could respond he used his Asgardian/Jotun strength and threw her across the square where she landed safely in a bush. The only matter now was the corpse of Quigley, but that could easily be stepped around.

Loki used his scepter and jabbed at Captain America, clanging against his shield. The soldier blocked a few more hits, but then Loki got one in that sent him spiraling backwards and into the pavement. Captain America rolled back into fighting position and threw his brightly painted shield at the Asgardian. Loki batted it away easily and then swiped at the captain again. He ducked and swung his own punches, but neither man connected for a moment. Finally, Loki knocked him back again, this time the super soldier was not quick enough to roll back into action and he landed on his stomach. As he got up, Loki held his head down with the scepter, triumphant.

* * *

Susan ached all over after being thrown into the bush. She shrieked as she saw the man who claimed to be her father and the man in the American flag suit fighting each other. Loki pushed the other man into the ground and held his head down with the golden staff menacingly.

"Kneel." It was barely a whisper, but it sounded so victorious that it filled Susan with fright once more. This madman, Loki, could not win. He could not. Couldn't the police do anything? If Loki won who was to say what would happen to Susan? He claimed to be her father, but if he was bent on world domination then he wouldn't want her around, perhaps he'd let her go. Who was she kidding? He was a complete psycho and he seemed to be very possessive - that was why he'd killed Max wasn't it?

The man in the red, white, and blue suit suddenly got up and kicked Loki, proudly exclaiming: "Not today!"

The two men began to wrestle all over the square and the jet lowered, trying to get a clear shot. All of a sudden loud rock 'n roll music played out. What looked to be a red and gold robot man zoomed onto the scene.

"Iron Man." Susan whispered, just as the superhero fired a blast at Loki, sending him flying backwards and landing with a sickening thud on the stairs.

"Make a move, Reindeer Games." Tony Stark, the billionaire superhero said through his metal mask. Loki raised his hands and his helmet and armor vanished, "Good move."

Susan cringed when Loki looked her way with a concerned expression. She tried to sink lower into the bush, but no extra cover could be provided. The man in the green and gold had his eyes fixed on her while Iron Man and the American flag guy exchanged greetings. Loki scowled and took a few calming breaths, still staring at her.

"Before you drag me off, there is one thing I'd like to collect." Loki said somewhat meekly.

"And what's that?" Iron Man asked, glancing around. He spotted Susan in the bush, "Hey kid, are you alright over there?"

"That 'kid' is what I would like to collect." Loki told them, slowly getting up while keeping his hands in the air.

"Why?" The star spangled superhero asked.

"Little girl, do you know this crazy reindeer?" Iron Man asked.

Susan nodded shakily. "He says that he's my father and I think he's telling the truth."

A small smile found it's way to Loki's face and Susan tried to shut him out by looking to Iron Man. She climbed out of the bush and brushed off her torn party dress. It pained her as that thought sunk in a little. Her biological father was a Norse myth who had just killed her stepfather and terrorized a hundred or so people by forcing them to bow down to him. She had his blood running through her own veins and that fact had just now sunk in.

"Your father? Yeesh, and I thought _I _had daddy issues," Iron Man joked, "Loki, does your family know about her? Or is this your first time meeting? You two must have so much bonding to do."

"So you admit that I am your father, Sigrid? What changed your mind, the murder or the speech?" Loki took a step toward her and she took a step back. The man in the American flag suit, who Susan was guessing was Captain America, put handcuffs on her father's wrists, but the trickster remained smiling at her.

"Well, if you're important to Loki then you'll be important to SHIELD. You'll be coming with us, miss." The captain told her leading Loki over to the landing jet.

"What? No! I've got to get home. And what about…" She got choked up on tears, "What about Max?"

"Who?"

"My stepfather, well, my mom's fiance."

Loki smiled wickedly. "To clarify, captain, the corpse on the ground over there."

Captain America looked at the body with a hint of disgust on his face and then back at Susan. She had fresh tears starting to trickle down her cheeks.

"We can't just leave him here."

"Romanoff?" Captain America said into his earpiece, "Send in paramedics for the man down. We're bringing Loki aboard along with a teenage girl."

"I told you, I can't go, I need to go back to my mom! If she hears about this on the news she'll be worried sick! Please, let me go home." Susan pleaded.

Iron Man opened his face mask and rolled his eyes. "It's not like you're in any trouble, kid, we just want a little bit of information. We can have you back to your mom as soon as we're done dealing with your dad."

Not knowing what else to do, Susan let the two superheroes lead her aboard the jet.

**A/N: Well? What did you think? Is it worth your time? Stupid? You tell me. Leave a review, I love them so! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who favorited and followed the story! I'm glad you like it that much. Also thanks to Earial13 for being the first to review. She has some amazing Once Upon a Time fics and, if memory serves, an awesome Thor story and some other ones. Thanks again to everyone. Enjoy this chapter! :)**

Once the jet had taken off Loki found it difficult to concentrate on anything other than the girl sitting across from him. He felt an odd mix of pride, regret, and annoyance. He was proud of how well she seemed to have grown up, he regretted not being there to see it happening, and he was annoyed at her for being in the way of his plan and for staring at him with such obvious disdain. She just needed to spend more time with him. Perhaps then she could be by his side when he took over Midgard.

"So, what is your name?" The Black Widow asked from the pilot's seat.

"Loki Laufeyson, I thought that much was obvious." Loki snickered.

"Not you, the kid."

"Susan Mort." She muttered, looking down at her hands, which were still stained red with Quigley's blood.

"Where are you from?"

"New York."

Loki had heard this said before, but it just now registered that he would be attacking her home town. He wondered if Amy would be there amongst the wreckage of his invasion. He hoped he wouldn't run into her, that would be utterly awkward.

"What were you doing in Germany?"

"Um," Sigrid wiped at her wet cheeks, "Max had a business trip there. My mom needed some alone time to plan the wedding so he offered to take me with him. He got us tickets to the event tonight because he works with the organization that was hosting the party. Err, he worked with them anyway."

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen. Why are you asking all these questions?"

"If you are who you say you are then SHIELD is going to want to have a file on you. I'm just getting some basic information." The red haired pilot informed her.

Sigrid nodded and went back to glaring at Loki. He pretended not to notice and looked her over. She was a lovely girl with auburn curls and bright blue eyes. She had her mother's nose if he recalled correctly. Loki briefly wondered if she had shown any signs of her frost giant heritage. Blue skin was not the norm on Midgard from what he had seen.

"Quit staring at me." She snapped suddenly, a delicate frown in place on her mouth.

"The cease staring at me." Loki retorted teasingly.

"Fine."

Loki suddenly heard the crack of lightning. _Oh no, here comes trouble._ He thought worriedly. He mustn't let his "dear brother" find Sigrid, that would be a difficult situation to explain considering Thor knew nothing of Loki's little adventure on earth fifteen year previous.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Captain America asked.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." The Asgardian answered, glancing out the windows. There was a loud _thud_ as something landed on the roof. Captain America and the Man of Iron shifted into battle positions and the Man of Iron put on his helmet. He opened the jet door and to Loki's horror, Thor landed on the opening hatch.

Sigrid looked worried and Loki sympathized. The blonde glanced at the other occupants of the plane and then glared at Loki with such scorn it made him wince. The Man of Iron fired up his blasters, but Thor simply used Mjolnir to push him back. Sigrid wriggled in her seat and tried to back away as much as possible. Thor stepped toward Loki and lifted him by the collar out of his own seat. They met each other's glares for a moment and then Thor dragged him from the jet, spinning Mjolnir. Loki could only hope the idiots on the jet would make sure his daughter was safe.

* * *

Susan yelped as the blonde man in the cape dragged Loki out of the plane, and feared for their lives until she saw them flying away. Tonight had been a very odd and terrifying night so she didn't question the fact that a hammer allowed for them to fly. Iron Man quickly exited the jet, explaining that his only plan of attack was to, indeed, swiftly attack.

"If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract is lost." Susan heard him say. She briefly wondered what on earth they were talking about, but quit wondering when Captain America grabbed a parachute.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap." The red haired pilot commented.

"I don't see how I can." The captain responded, fastening his parachute.

"These guys come from legend, they're basically gods."

Susan cringed when she heard that. It was all the confirmation she needed to know that Loki had not lied about a thing and was indeed her father. There was no denying it now.

"There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Captain America retorted. He grabbed his shield and then lept from the plane after Loki, the blonde man, and Iron Man.

After they had gone, the jet door closed. Susan turned in her seat to the pilot. "Will they be alright?"

"Cap and Stark? Probably, they're both idiots, but they can handle themselves."

"What about…?"

"Loki? Well, he might come back with a few more bruises and scrapes, but he will come back. Stark doesn't give up easily and from what I've seen of Captain America, neither does he."

"Who was the other man?" Susan asked, fearfully. She thought for a moment about what she had learned about Norse myths. The only deity that came to mind who wielded a hammer was Thor. "Was it Thor?"

"That would be my guess. He came to New Mexico a while back, that's how we know about the Asgardians. If memory serves, and Loki is your father, that means Thor's your uncle, kid."

"My uncle?" She laughed despite the horrendous time she was having, "It's only been me and mom for my whole life and then suddenly I was going to have a stepfather. Now I've got a biological father and an uncle! This just keeps getting crazier and crazier!"

"From what I've heard about Thor, his father is the ruler of Asgard, so you have grandparents too. You're certainly in for a wild ride," The red haired pilot smiled slightly at Susan, "Are you ready for that?"

"Not in the least."

* * *

Loki and Thor had landed, argued, and then Thor had been plowed over by the Man of Iron. How ironic that the people who Thor so longed to protect attacked him and not Loki, who had plans to invade. He would have a good laugh about it later.

In the meantime, Loki watched from the mountain as Thor and the Man of Iron fought one another. This fight had certainly put a bump in the plan. Loki was supposed to be going to the flying base, but this gave him a rather obvious chance at escaping. If he took it then the plan would be ruined. He would just have to watch the fight and hope the "heroes" didn't notice that he wasn't running off. They were all such cretins he expected it wouldn't be hard to get away with this.

While he watched them his mind wandered back to Sigrid. What must she think of this whole situation? To find her father and see him cause such havoc could not be easy on the girl. However, Loki had faith that she would get over the ordeal and understand eventually. After all, when his plans succeeded then she would be right by his side, ruling over the people of this planet, what could be better?

Thor and the Man of Iron fought each other all over the forest, destroying trees and butting heads like to rams. It was quite amusing and Loki was enjoying watching them go at it until the soldier came between the two of them with his shield.

"Then prove it, put that hammer down." The captain said after some conversation between the three. Loki's smile grew. This would not end well for the captain.

"Uh no!" Iron Man said hastily, "He loves his hammer!"

Thor smacked the man in the metal suit backwards and looked to the other Midgardian. "You want me to put the hammer down?!" He flew into the air and landed, hammer first, on the captain's shield. The clang of metal on metal was deafening and Thor flew backward. After the dust had settled a little the captain rose and looked Thor in the eye.

"Are we done here?"

Thor looked at the destruction and gave a slight nod, breathing heavily. They might have been done at that point, but Loki smiled at the thought of how much more fighting they would have to do.


	5. Chapter 5

Susan had settled comfortably in her chair when the jet's door opened once more and revealed all four men, though Loki and Captain America had to be carried by Thor and Iron Man. The girl looked away from the group, pretending not to notice that Loki had returned. She folded her hands in her lap and decided to instead watch Thor. He was a huge fellow with long blonde hair and silver armor. He had a red cape and an irritated look on his face. He merely glanced at her before looking back to Captain America and Iron Man.

"You are both worthy opponents." He commented.

"You aren't so bad yourself." Captain America smiled.

"Yes, you were all marvelous, but perhaps save this drivel until I am not longer present as I do not wish to be annoyed with it." Loki rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you let us big boys have our conversation and you can talk with the kid, huh?" Iron Man snorted, gesturing to Susan.

She couldn't help trembling slightly or wincing every time Loki's gaze found her. Malice seemed to radiate off of him, except when he turned to her, then his eyes filled with worry. It was unnerving to see how his harsh glares and rude quips changed to soft gazes and small smiles when he looked her way. All of her life she had wanted a father who looked at her like that, and last week she had gotten exactly what she wanted when Max asked to marry her mom. Now Max was gone and some sort of monster had taken his place. A monster who shared her DNA.

"Who is this child, metal man?" Thor asked suddenly.

"I'm Susan." She answered, as if that explained everything.

"Loki is claiming that she is his daughter." Captain America added.

Thor's face changed from irritation to shock and he stared at his brother. "What is this, Loki? Is it true?"

Loki looked away from Susan, which filled her with relief. He smirked slightly at his brother. "Surprised?"

"Then she is my niece!" Thor said proudly, not even bothering to look at Susan.

"No!" Loki snapped, "We are _not_ brothers, Thor." The two Asgardians glowered at each other for a moment and then Thor turned to Susan.

"So you are daughter of Loki, Lady Susan?" Thor smiled kindly and Susan couldn't help but smile back, "I am sorry to have not met you sooner."

"Well, there was the whole issue of not having known each other existed, so I think I can forgive you." Susan joked.

* * *

It pained Loki greatly to see that Thor could get Sigrid to smile just by looking at her and he himself had not yet managed to do anything except make her cry. Jealousy once more burned inside him, but he managed to keep it under control.

Still, it sickened him to see how easily she joked with Thor while she wouldn't even say a word to him. This would need to be remedied as soon as possible. Perhaps when they were on the flying base something could be done about it. They would no doubt put him in a cage of some kind, but surely they would let him see his daughter.

Thor smiled and nodded to something else Sigrid had said and then went back to talking to the other two "superheroes" in the plane. While they were talking amongst themselves Loki tried to catch his daughter's eye. It seemed she was purposefully avoiding looking at him. When she finally looked up at him he gave her his kindest smile.

"So, how is your mother?" He asked, ignoring the sideways stares the other occupants of the jet were giving him.

"Fine. She _was_ happy, but I expect she'll be devastated in a little while. When she finds out about what you did." Sigrid sniffed, attempting to look down on him disdainfully.

"Yes, I suppose that would put a damper on anyone's day. Finding out your fiance was murdered by an old lover, pity that."

Sigrid stiffened. "Why did you do it? Why did you kill Max? He wasn't doing anything to provoke you, just kneeling there with the rest of them!"

"I am a creature of jealousy." He stated simply.

"_You_ are disgusting is what you are." She shot back, crossing her arms.

"You will learn differently with time." Loki whispered softly.

"Just shut up!"

Loki felt as if a good father would take some sort of disciplinary action when spoken to in such a manner, but at the time it seemed like the best idea would be to let the matter drop.

Thor raised one eyebrow. "I take it they are not on good terms?"

"Well, would you be if your real dad just murdered your stepfather?" Iron Man quipped.

"Though I cannot relate to such a situation, nay, I do not think I would be on the friendliest of terms," Thor said solemnly, "Tis a pity."

Within an hour of awkward silence the group arrived at the flying fortress and Loki was handcuffed and escorted from the jet by a large force of armed men. He could have easily escaped the situation, but it was crucial to the plan that no one else knew that. In the eyes of the Midgardians he must appear helpless so that he could get to the beast within their ranks.

They took him to a room with a glass cell in the middle and locked him in. The man with the eyepatch, Nick Fury entered the room and gave a retaliation speech about how their roles had been reversed and Loki was now the ant beneath the boot, and how desperate he had made them. It was an admirable speech, but Loki couldn't seem to give it his whole attention. He merely smiled and chuckled menacingly at the remarks.

"You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Oooh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have the power. Unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what _real_ power is."

"Well let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something," With that he began to walk away, but for a moment he turned back and used his one eye to bore into Loki's soul, "By the way, Susan Mort has informed us that she doesn't want to talk to you. So, don't even bother asking."

Loki stepped as close as he could to the glass and angrily glared at the man before him. "You cannot keep her from me!" He shouted, losing his cool, "I am her father and you cannot keep her from me!"

"Watch me." And with that, Nick Fury left the room with a swish of his leather trench coat. Loki watched him go, cursing him behind his back and then looking back to the camera on the side of the cage. He wondered if Sigrid was watching or if they had locked her off in some cell as well. His daughter, his _kin_ was never supposed to be dragged into this war, and yet she sat directly in the line of fire.

* * *

Susan had been shown to a medical bay and examined by a nurse or a doctor or an agent, whatever the man was. He had curly dark hair and glasses that were constantly slipping down his nose. When he first came into the room he asked her to sit on the examination table and she obliged.

"Hi, I'm Bruce."

"I'm Susan, are you a doctor?"

"Sort of, but I'm not here to give you a check up," He glanced at some papers on a clipboard, "The director has ordered me to take a blood sample and then compare it to Loki's blood to find out if you two are actually related. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure, I guess I'd kind of like some scientific confirmation, but I know the results are going to be positive." She sighed, kicking her legs.

"Why do you expect that? He's just some random guy you met in Germany. He could be anyone," Bruce pulled out a needle from a medical kit and prepped it, "I bet even he doesn't know for sure."

"Yeah whatever."

"Okay, arm please." Bruce injected the needle and drew forth some blood.

Normally, Susan hated getting blood draws because the doctors always said there was something strange about it. However, when they ran tests she appeared perfectly healthy, just with odd blood. It had a slight blue tint to it and was colder than blood should be. Susan assumed that was from her father's side. She wondered if Asgardians had different anatomy that humans. Was she some kind of freak? Would she spout a tail or grow horns? Neither Thor or Loki had horns, but maybe the capes were used for hiding their tails. Thinking of how weird it would be to have a tail, Susan didn't hear the beep the machine made when it had finished logging her data.

"All that's left is to get a blood sample from Loki and then we can know for sure, okay?"

"Okay. When will you know?"

"There's an agent taking Loki's sample right now and then with all of this high tech SHIELD stuff I think it will take about ten minutes."

"Oh," She glanced around, "You wouldn't happen to know where I can get a change of clothes, would you? I'm kind of sick of running around in this dress."

"I'll ask somebody," Bruce confirmed, "Right now I have to go get the sample from the agent who collected it and then run it through the machine." He left the medical bay and turned to go down the hallway. When he was gone, a curious looking man with black hair and a goatee peeked inside and came in. Susan hadn't seen many pictures of Tony Stark, but he'd had his helmet off on the plane ride so she knew it was him.

"Hey there!" He called, stepping into the room, "We didn't get properly introduced before, and though I normally don't care about that kind of thing, I kinda want to know who you are soooo… I'm Tony Stark."

"I know who you are. I heard about Iron Man on TV. Aren't superheroes supposed to keep their secret identities secret?"

"Yup, but I have a thing for breaking the rules, just ask my CEO, Pepper."

"Well, I'm Susan Mort, but I've been told that is a tasteless name, so you might want to try Sigrid Lokidaughter." She grunted.

"You'll get beat up with a name like that," Stark commented, "How about Viking Kid?"

"What, why?" Susan asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Cause I have to call you something and there is no way you can stick with Susan or Sea-squid."

"Si_grid_!" Susan snickered.

"Whatever. How about Baby Reindeer?"

"That makes absolutely no sense."

"Uh, yes it does, you just don't fully comprehend my nicknaming genius. See, Loki is Reindeer Games because of his stupid helmet, and your his kid, hence Baby Reindeer."

"No, it's still stupid."

"Reindeer Princess?"

"No, and quit with the reindeer stuff!"

"Fine, fine! Then I'm going to call you Little Loki."

Susan's face fell. "I don't care what you call me so long as it isn't that."

Stark raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Your funeral, Jinx."

"Oh, that's a great one, where'd you get that from?" Susan asked sarcastically.

"Uh oh!" Stark said, glancing out the observation windows, "Banner's back, hide me!"

"What? Why?"

"I'm supposed to be tracking the Tesseract, but I just wanted to pop in a say a quick hello. Banner's a great guy, but too much of a goody two shoes, he'll have Fury drag me back to the lab!" The man hid behind Susan as she sat on the examination table.

"Tony, I can still see you." Bruce commented, stepping into the room with a vial of dark colored blood. The liquid had the same blue tinge that Susan's blood did, but this blood was definitely bluer. The doctor poured the blood into a machine and then hit a few buttons. The machine made a whirring noise for a while and Tony Stark stepped out from behind Susan.

"Okay, well I'll see you later Jinx!" He called, exiting the room eating from a bag of blueberries that seemed to come from nowhere.

"Bye!" She smiled, he was an odd one, that billionaire.

"I managed to find you a T-shirt and some jeans, is that alright with you?"

"Perfect! Thank you so much!" She grabbed the pile of clothing and ducked behind a changing screen that was in the medical bay. After she had changed and was sitting on the table again she heard the machine _ding_ and a holographic screen came up showing two strands of DNA. Bruce looked through the list of data that had come up beside the pictures and then pulled the two strands of DNA off the screen so they became 3D. It was quite impressive to Susan, who went to a school where the computers were slower than the checkers club.

"Hmm," The doctor grunted, spinning the two strands of DNA, "It's remarkable how similar his DNA structure is to ours even though he's from an entirely different world."

"That's great doc, but how similar is his DNA to mine?"

Bruce adjusted his glasses once more. "It's a match."

**A/N: I'm really cranking out the chapters for this story, huh? Well, don't expect this all the time, I'm just in a writing mood right now. I'll probably get writers' block soon, but for the meantime, I hope you enjoy the story! Thanks to my guest reviewer, I'm glad you like the story! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Oh boy, here comes a doozy!**

Loki was trying to keep calm in the situation. After all, he was exactly where he wanted to be and when the daylight came the flying fortress would fall from the sky and the beast would be at large. This also worried him. Sigrid was on the flying fortress and there was nothing in the plan that said how to get her out with him. He obviously couldn't leave her or she would be doomed with the pathetic creatures that were Midgard's would-be heroes.

There was also the matter of SHIELD not allowing her to come and speak with him. He was certain she wanted to, but those idiots wouldn't let her. An agent had extracted some of his blood, but did not say what it was for. However, Loki guessed that they were determining whether or not he and Sigrid were kin. The blood would match, he was sure of it. A brief worry filled his mind that it did not match, which would be quite embarrassing.

_What does it matter,_ he scolded himself, _when you are king of this world one girl will make no difference in your reputation. _Another voice in his head warned him that Sigrid was not part of the plan and meant nothing to him, but as cruel and heartless as he was, he managed to silence that voice. Even if she wasn't part of the plan she was his daughter. A king had to have an heir and so she was precious. Of course, there was the small matter that he would most likely outlive her, but details weren't important at the moment.

Loki was snapped out of his thoughts when the door to the room was opened. Thor stepped into the room, much to Loki's surprise. This was the last person he was expecting to see. Perhaps Agent Romanoff or Nick Fury again, but not Thor.

"Loki," Thor greeted gravely, "Banner has confirmed that you are indeed the father of young Lady Susan."

Loki turned his back to the man he'd once called "brother". He had known it all along, he did not need the confirmation of Midgardian technology.

"I have heard that the girl is not taking it well, though she believed you when you told her. I pity her."

"Why? Because she is related to one such as I?" Loki laughed scornfully.

"Nay, because her father was absent her whole life and when she finally knows him he turns out to be a monster that is ravaging her home world." Thor managed to keep his cool, but Loki could sense the anger building inside him.

"I did not know she even existed!" Loki hissed, "Besides, finding out your father is a monster isn't as bad as it seems, though you wouldn't know about that with your _perfect_ life, would you?"

"Let us not diverge from the topic Loki. This is not about you and I, this is about Lady Susan." Thor snapped.

"Her name is Sigrid." Loki snapped back.

"Whatever she is called, she is in a state of unease and her father cannot comfort her because of his actions. Do you feel no remorse?"

"They are the ones keeping her from me and the only reason she is in a state of unease is because of me!"

"You are keeping yourself from her by choosing this course, Loki! If you told us where the Tesseract was then you could see your daughter. Is that not what you want? Is that not what is best for her?" Thor implored.

Loki felt anger burning in him and lashed out. "You do not know what is best for her! What experience do you have that could possibly make you capable of knowing what is best for _my_ daughter?!"

Thor scowled and crossed his arms. "I am not the one sending her home world into ruin."

"Leave me Thor." Loki hissed. When the blonde did nothing he shouted it, "I said _leave_!"

Finally, big blonde oaf left the room, leaving Loki alone with the cameras and the cage. The trickster considered what Thor had said, but did not take any of it to heart. That fool was just as idiotic as the rest of them if he thought Loki would ever reform. It was much too late for that.

* * *

The matching DNA had sealed the deal. Susan was Loki's daughter. Even though she had known for sometime, having it confirmed by science shook her to the core. She was shown to a room with a cot and left alone for the time. In contrast to being left alone, the only thing she wanted right then was somebody to talk to. The people aboard the helicarrier were kind to her, but she really wanted to talk to someone who could understand her. Like her mom. Or Max.

After taking a few shaky breaths she thought about her possibilities of listeners aboard the helicarrier. There was Dr. Banner, but he was probably busy with finding whatever Loki hid. There was Tony Stark, but considering that he was a celebrity it might be kind of awkward. Then there was that guy with the eye patch, Nick Fury. He seemed to be a bit too hard core to be any good at listening to teenage drama. The red haired pilot, Natasha, had checked in with her once, but didn't seem like a great listener either. Everyone else seemed busy keeping the helicarrier in the air and functioning. There was only one other person on the whole base that wasn't busy right now. Loki.

"Well, who better to talk about father issues with than my father?" She sighed. Gathering her courage, Susan opened the door to the room and stepped out in the hallway, coming face to face with Thor, "Oh, hi there!"

"Hello Lady Susan!" Thor greeted, "I was just coming to check on you."

"How come?"

"It is my understanding that you have been disturbed by new information regarding Loki. I felt that since I have known him his whole life you might have a few questions. At this time I have no other duties to attend to and family is quite important to me." Thor smiled.

"I was actually just on my way to speak to Loki, err, my father," She made a disgusted face, "But I can spare a few minutes for my uncle."

"You know that I am not truly related to you, correct?"

"Really?"

"It is the truth. Loki was adopted into our family, but that does not mean that I will not treat you as one of my own kin. Adopted or not, Loki was raised as my brother and I as his."

"Adopted? Oh yeah, he mentioned something like that back in Germany. He said he didn't know who his father was for a long time and when he found out he wasn't too happy about it."

"I am not surprised. His father was my father's foe. A frost giant by the name of Laufey."

"A frost-what?" Susan felt her heart start beating fast, "He said that he was Asgardian."

"He is of Asgard, and I shall never see him differently, but in truth he was born to the frost giants, or Jotun. They are giant blue humanoids with a love for destruction…" Thor stopped, awkwardly noticing the terrified expression on Susan's face, "But clearly you are not blue, so you must have retained a good portion of your Midgardian heritage." He added swiftly.

"Blue? But Loki isn't blue?"

"That is something I cannot explain. I would assume my father, Odin, used magic to mask his true colors."

"I think I gonna be sick." Susan announced, clutching her stomach.

"Lady Susan, do not be ill! Should I summon a physician?"

Susan ignored him and rushed down the hallway. The signs pointed to the detention level and that was where she needed to go. A serious talk needed to be had with Loki. When she got to the door of the room they were holding him in there were four guards lined up, all with big guns.

"Um, can I go in there please?"

"SHIELD identification badge?" One of the guards asked.

"I don't have one, but Director Fury said I could go in there if I was feeling up to it." Susan was feeling a bit rebellious at the moment and if need be she would force her way into the room. Not that she could do much against guns, but she could cause a rucuss and that would bring Director Fury down.

"Wait, aren't you that kid that they're saying is the prisoner's daughter?" Another guard inquired.

"Yeah, that's me." Susan said defensively.

"I don't know why they don't just use you as leverage to get the Tesseract," A third guard snorted, typing in the security code to the panel, "Anyhow, the director did give the word to let you in when you seemed stable. You don't look so messed up so in you go."

"Gee thanks."

"You're welcome kid, have fun in there with your psycho daddy." He mock saluted her, stepping aside to let her in. Once in the room she spotted what appeared to be a giant glass jar. Inside of the jar was a dark figure, standing and glaring at a camera. He didn't turn when she came in.

"Thor, I will not listen to any more of your drivel so save your breath." He said wearily.

Not saying a word, Susan walked up the steps that made her level with her father. She sat on the floor and stared at him for a moment. His back was still turned to her. Sighing loudly, the man crossed his arms.

"Go away." He said.

"Make me." Susan called to him.

* * *

Hearing a voice that was most definitely not Thor's Loki spun around with a menacing smirk, hoping to find some poor foolish agent. Instead he saw Sigrid, sitting peacefully before him. She was wearing different clothing than when he'd last seen her and it seemed as if she had run a brush through her hair.

"Daughter," He said, smirk still in place, "What brings you to this dreary place?"

"Everyone else is too busy to talk and I figured right now would be a good time to get some things sorted. You know, before either they find the Tesseract-thingy or you set off some enormous destructive plan," Susan sat up a bit straighter, "And Thor isn't exactly a great listener."

Loki's smile widened. She had come to him. He hadn't even had to lift a finger to bring her here, she simply walked in and wanted to talk. Director Fury had been wrong.

"Now is probably the best time we will get to do any talking, so what would you like to discuss?" He pressed his forearm on the glass and leaned forward casually.

"First of all, why did you say you're an Asgardian when you aren't?"

Loki's smile dimmed a little. "That is an unimportant detail."

Sigrid snorted. "Yeah, right. Just like how your plan to rule the earth is an unimportant detail. Just like how you abandoned my mom is an unimportant detail."

"Why does it matter what race I am? Will it change the fact that I am your father?"

"Maybe it doesn't matter, but gee, it would have been great to know that I'm half _frost giant_ every time the doctors ran twenty tests on me to find out why my blood was so cold all the time. Or when they wanted to know why I'm always shorter in the summer, yet tower above everyone else in the winter. That information _might_ have been useful."

"I didn't even know you existed, you foolish girl!" Loki snapped.

"And why is that? Oh right, because you left! Poof, gone!" Sigrid yelled back.

"I had my reasons. Reasons you would do well not to question, daughter," Loki said in a warning tone, "I regret not learning of your existence until now, but what happened in the past cannot be undone."

"Pssh! Ever heard of revenge?" Sigrid asked, cocking her eyebrow.

"You would seek revenge on me for this?"

"Maybe not for that, but maybe for what you did to Max!" She shouted, "You had absolutely no reason to do that! He was just minding his own business, doing the job you were _supposed _to do as a father and then you killed him!"

Loki felt his blood begin to boil. "You cannot hope to understand any of this, you foolish child! That man died because he stood in the way of my conquest. You heard how he spoke about freedom, if he had just agreed with me - even if he had been lying - I might have let him go."

"But _you_ singled him out of the crowd! Why did you pick the only person in that whole crowd who mattered to me? Explain that!" Sigrid's eyes flashed a brilliant blue and she radiated anger and hatred.

Loki smirked once more. "I singled him out because I am a protective father. So in a way, you were the one who caused his demise," This statement had the desired effect and she clamped her mouth shut and stood up, turning away from him. Loki grinned triumphantly. "Maxwell Quigley's death is your fault."

Sigrid spun around and briskly walked over to the glass that separated them. She got as close as she could and looked him directly in the eye. "Even if it was my fault, that doesn't change the fact that you are a monster and a power hungry lunatic. We may have the same blood in our veins, Loki, but you are _not_ my father."

Loki frowned, but he did not break his stare. Neither of them blinked and for sometime neither of them spoke a word. They just stared at one another. Finally Loki broke through the icy glares by taking a jaunty step backwards and spreading his arms wide.

"Are you so offended to be related to me, Sigrid, that you would denounce the claims of science?" He laughed cruelly.

"My name is Susan. And you know that's not what I meant."

"What exactly did you mean?" He asked.

"That I never want to see you again after this conversation."

"I do so hate to spoil your plans, but we _will _be seeing much more of each other after this conversation. You have no choice in the matter."

* * *

Susan snorted at this comment. "Oh yeah? Well I'm not the one in the cage. How are you going to make that happen? Hmm? I can go anywhere on this whole helicarrier and you are stuck in this little cage with no way out," She was bluffing of course, she had no idea if he could get out or not. Hoping her bluff was correct, she continued, "I am as free as a bird. I can go anywhere while you rot in this cell."

Loki turned to the camera in the room and waved his hand at it. Susan wasn't sure what that did, but assumed it was bad. He smiled widely and in the blink of an eye he was outside the cell, gripping her shoulder in his hand. "Rot? No thanks, I have plans."

"There will be a dozen agents in here in a second!" Susan said, attempting to pull away, "They aren't just going to let you out of your cell!"

"But according to their cameras I'm still in my cell, so how would they know? You are all alone, Sigrid."

"Then I'll shout for help." She threatened.

"Right when we were getting along, too. What a pity," He pushed her back a few inches, and she would have fallen a fair amount if it hadn't been for the railing,"Would you really give your dearest father away like that?"

"I told you, you aren't my dad."

"So you have no qualms about forcing me to start my plan early and not even giving those 'heroes' a chance to prepare themselves? Really, you are as heartless as I am, which is honestly no surprise considering your lineage."

"Fine, I won't shout for help. What do you want?"

"I want you to promise that when the time comes you will come to me in this room."

"What time? What are you talking about?"

"I cannot give away too much, but when all of the commotion breaks out you must come to me, here. You must not go to any of the others, just come here. You will know when it is time."

"What if I don't come here? Even though you are out of your cell now, you'll be dealing with all of the commotion too. You won't have time to make sure I come back." Susan retorted.

"If you do not come here I can guarantee that anyone in this world that you care for or love will suffer because of it. You wouldn't want your lovely mother paying for your mistakes, would you?"

Susan felt a chill spread through her. He couldn't, could he? But why shouldn't he? He'd already killed Max and countless others. Loki put both hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"Do you swear you will come to my side when the time is right?" Not trusting her tongue to speak, Susan simply nodded, "Wonderful. Now that that is settled we can discuss whatever you wish." He disappeared and then popped up in the cage again. He waved his hand at the camera.

Susan shook her head and took a step backwards. She tore her vision from the man in the cell and rushed out of the room. Distressed by the situation, she felt as if it would be best to return to her room until the time came when she needed to leave it.

Loki watched her go with a satisfied grin. "I'll see you soon, daughter."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you so much to Earial13 for the review (I'm glad you like her name!) and to everyone who has so graciously favorited and followed. You make me feel so special! ;) Another thank you to anyone who is reading this story, I hope you like it! One more thing before I just get to the chapter already: It has come to my attention that there is a story out there called Child of Loki about Loki's daughter. No, I'm not accusing people of copying my ideas, Child of Loki was actually published before this story. I didn't know it even existed, so any similarities are completely coincidental. I just thought I should say that. Anyway, thank you all! Enjoy the chapter!**

Susan had quite enough of Loki for one day. Heck, she'd had enough of him to last a lifetime and she'd only just met him a few hours ago. Had it really only been a few hours since that terrifying time in Germany? It seemed like so much longer.

"Knock, knock," Natasha called, opening the door to Susan's room, "How's it going?"

"Not great, but thanks for asking." Susan grumbled from where she lay on her cot.

"I watched the footage of you and Loki together. It seemed pretty heated."

"That's because it was," Susan sighed, rolling over and looking at the super spy. For a moment she considered telling her about how Loki was able to escape from his cell and that he had some kind of commotion planned, but she remembered that he had threatened to hurt her mother for simply not coming with him. If he heard that she had blabbed his plans to his enemy who knew what he'd do? So she decided against revealing that information, "I guess I shouldn't have expected anything better, but all my life I fantasized about having this great dad who really loved me, you know?"

Black Widow blinked. "Sort of. Anyway, I'm here because Fury is concerned about where your loyalties lie. I told him that after seeing the yelling match between you two there is no way you could be on Loki's side, but he wants to be sure."

"I'm not on Loki's side, that's for sure," Grunted Susan, "But I have no idea what SHIELD is so I'm not sure if I'm on your side either."

"SHIELD is dedicated to protecting the world." Natasha answered shortly.

"Oh, well I guess that puts me on your side then. The earth is a pretty important thing to protect."

"Saying that does help your image a bit, but I'm afraid Fury won't be convinced, your father is pretty much the king of lies after all."

"That doesn't make me like him!" Susan barked.

"Of course not, but Fury wants to hook you up to the lie detector anyway."

"Those exist?"

"It's not one hundred percent accurate, but I think ninety-nine is pretty good."

"Wow, I'll say. Okay, where is it?"

"I'm going to take you there now and then I'm off to have a chat with Loki," Natasha turned to go and Susan followed closely behind. They walked down the corridor and to a room where Tony Stark was fiddling with some holographic screens, "Hey Stark, she's ready for her tests, are you sure you can work the machine?"

"Please, Agent Romanoff, don't insult me. I can work _any _machine."

"Then I'll leave it to you." Natasha walked off in the direction of Loki's holding cell.

"Hey there Jinx, how's it been?"

"Lousy. How's your search for that thingy going?"

"Same. We're hoping Agent Redhead can get some info out of your dear old dad that might help, but no guarantees. Let's get you set up in the all powerful lie detector, okay?"

Susan climbed into a strange looking chair and slipped her wrists into the holders. Then Stark attached some devices to her fingertips and a few wires were stuck to her head with tape. Finally, she had to lean her head back into the headrest. Stark flipped a few switches on the board in front of him and operated the touch screen with the skills of a technological genius - which he was.

"Okay, are you ready to lose all of your secrets?"

"Um, all of my relevant secrets, yes."

"Well, while I've got you hooked up to this thing I might just make you tell _all_ of your secrets. I'm pretty good at finding loopholes so I won't get in trouble."

"Oh great, I'm being interrogated by creep." Susan groaned.

"Ha! The screen did something, that means you're lying and you don't think I'm a creep."

"Does that thing understand sarcasm? Cause if it doesn't I'm done for."

"I dunno, I guess we'll find out, huh?" The man sat down at the board of controls and then looked up at her, "First question, what is your nickname?"

"Susie, but you call me Jinx."

"Good, now who is the coolest superhero in the world?"

"I'm not going to say Iron Man, if that's what you're hoping."

"Huh," Stark grunted, looking at the screens, "You really don't think I'm the coolest superhero?"

"Sorry dude, Batman is awesome."

"We're practically the same - except I'm real!"

"For real super heroes it's you, definitely." Susan grinned.

"Ah! Perfect answer. Okay, now some relevant stuff. Boring! Who is your biological father?"

"Loki." Susan grunted.

"I'm seeing spikes in agitation, but I get that because everyone saw that lovely conversation between you two," Stark commented, "Who is your biological mother?"

"Amy Mort."

"Are you part of Loki's scheme to take over the earth?"

"No."

"Have you partaken in anyway in helping him take over the earth?"

"Not that I know of."

"That's not a definite answer, the machine can't read it properly."

"Oh, sorry. No."

"Good. Have you ever assisted Loki with anything?"

"I have not."

"What is your opinion on Loki?"

"He's a lunatic, a monster, a jerk, and I'm sorry to be related to him."

"Ouch. Okay, if asked to pick a side, would you go for team Loki or the Avengers?"

"The who?"

"Me, Cap, Banner, Thor, Romanoff - Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The Avengers."

"Oh. I'd pick you guys because you're protecting the earth."

"Cool, we've got a cheerleader. Do you know where the Tesseract is?"

"No."

"Do you have any information on what Loki's plans are?"

"He plans on causing some kind of commotion," Susan said cautiously, "I'm not sure what, but he told me to be careful."

"Is that _all _he told you? Because according to these readings, you're holding something back." Stark raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, he said that he planned on seeing me again? I don't know I can't really remember."

"Oh yes you can, the machine says you're lying."

Susan sighed and drummed her fingers impatiently on the arm rest. "Okay, he told me that before now he didn't know I existed and that he was sorry for that. He told me that it was my fault that Max died. Uh… what else? He told me that if I crossed him then he'd kill my mother."

"Is that all?"

"Well you should know, you watched the tape, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't remember him ever threatening your mother, which makes me think there is something else you two were talking about."

"Like what? You honestly think he'd tell me what all of his plans are? I could barely get him to admit that he was a frost giant! I don't think he trusts me."

"Fine, moving on. When is the next time you plan on seeing Loki?"

"Never."

"There's something wrong with that answer. I'll ask again. When do you next plan to see Loki?" Stark shifted in his seat and turned a dial slightly.

"I never want to see him again."

"No lies there. Okay, well I think that's about all we need, but while I have you hooked up… who is the most handsome of the Avengers?"

Susan laughed. "Thor, of course."

"Well, you're not wrong. You're free to go."

Susan unhooked the wires and got down from the chair. She took a deep breath of relief. She'd gotten around the question about when she next planned on seeing Loki by switching out the word "plan" for "want", because then her statement was true. She never _wanted_ to see him again, but she was _planning_ on seeing him as soon as the ruckus broke out. Apparently Tony Stark wasn't the only one good at finding loopholes.

* * *

Loki paced his cell contemplating the events of the past twenty-four hours. The whole ordeal with Sigrid had seemed to spiral out of control, but he'd found a way to bring it back together. Now she would be coming with him to safety and he could hash it all out then. For the meantime he hoped she wouldn't get into too much trouble.

The Jotun turned with a smile to find Agent Romanoff. "There's not many people who can sneak up on me."

"But you figured I'd come." She stated.

"After," He noted, "After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend…" They continued to bait one another with quips and tricks.

She had come so that she could find out what happened to Agent Barton, the archer. Loki told her that he expanded his mind through use of the scepter. A thought occurred to him while he was speaking. Why did he not simply use the power of the scepter to "expand" Sigrid's mind? It would make things much easier in the long run, but could he really do that to her? It could easily be undone, of course, but she would loathe him even more for doing such a thing.

"...what happens to his mind?" She finished.

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" Loki asked.

"Love is for children, I owe him a debt."

Loki took a few steps back, toward the bench in the cell. "Tell me,"

The agent took a breath and looked away a little. She uncrossed her arms and looked back. She proceeded to tell him about how she had a dark past of killing. Describing how Barton had been sent to kill her, but opted to let her live instead.

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked, mocking really as he would do no such thing.

"Not let you out." She commented.

"I know, but I like this. You're world in the balance and you bargain for one man?"

"Regimes fall every day, I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian," She paused, "Or, I was." It made no difference to Loki as he only knew Russia as the name of one of Midgard's countries, but he felt he'd better comment all the same.

"And what are you now?"

"What are you?" She asked, "You are from Asgard, you claim to be a king, and then we find out you're also a father. What does that make you?"

Loki hated how she'd turned the tables on him, but he had expected it. "Why, I'd say I'm a king who just happens to have an heir. Is that so uncommon?"

"No, but this is different. Your daughter hates you to your very core. She'll never go with you, but you love her. That makes her a liability."

"I believe we've detoured from our original topic, agent." Loki said through grit teeth.

"What are you plans for getting Susan out of here? I mean, anyone could manage getting himself out of a place, but when there is an unexpected burden like her things tend to get messy. People tend to get hurt. Innocent people." She raised an eyebrow, "Like Susan."

"How do know that I intend to escape at all? Perhaps I shall just wait here for you to locate the Tesseract," He smiled, "Perhaps I am tired of the excitement."

"You wouldn't give up so easily."

"Back to our topic, what _are_ you now?" Loki sneered.

"It's really not that complicated. I got red in my ledger and I'd like to wipe it out." She rose from her own chair and crossed her arms again, staring him down.

"Can you?" Loki asked, silently glad to have changed topics, "Can you wipe out that much red? Drakoff's daughter?" She froze and he continued, "The hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic! You lie and kill, in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors, but they are part of you and they will never go away," For good measure he slammed his fist on the glass, partly to scare her and partly because he needed to vent his anger some how as he realized that he was doing a decent job of describing himself and now saw why Sigrid hated him so, "I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you! Slowly, intimately, and in every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake up just long enough to see his good work," Loki watched in amusement as she cowered, eyes filling with dread, "And when he screams I'll split his skull," She turned away, too horrified to look at him anymore, "This is my bargain you mewling quim."

The assassin gasped for breath with her back turned to him, sobbing slightly. "You're a monster." She accused.

Loki couldn't help but laugh at the irony. "Oh no, you brought the monster."

Immediately Agent Romanoff straightened up and turned around to face him, a curious expression on her face. "So, Banner? That's your play?

"What?" Loki asked, confused. Had this woman not just been a weeping mess? Had she not been terrified of him only a moment before?

Romanoff turned on a radio in her ear. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk, keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well," She walked to the door, but turned briefly before leaving, "Thank you, for your cooperation."

Loki was left, slightly baffled by her visit. She had just moved things ahead of schedule, apparently. They would all begin bickering amongst themselves, allowing the staff to give off the location of Banner to Barton. Things were about to get messy and Sigrid was no where to be found.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks to my reviewers, Tormarkham, Earial13, Currahee506, and DragonGirl223, I'm glad you like it! DragonGirl223, thank you for your insightful review, it's very helpful! Thank you to all of the followers as well, you are awesome. So, this chapter also has a bit of violence in it, but if you've actually seen the Avengers movie then it's nothing you haven't seen already. Soooo... on with the story and the father/daughter craziness!**

Susan was eating a meal in her room when she heard an explosion. Dropping her food she rushed to the hallway and looked around. People running past her were explaining to one another that an engine was down by one of Loki's men as well as the lab all of the Avengers had been in. The teenager ran as fast as she could to the stairs she knew would take her to the detention level. It wasn't that she was particularly eager to see Loki again, it was that she worried if she didn't get there in time he would see it as her not coming and then kill her mother.

Clearly this was the commotion that he'd been talking about, it was a mess caused by Loki and one that would help him escape. Susan wasn't sure what part she played in all of this, perhaps he wanted a hostage in case they ran into trouble. Then he could just threaten his way out of danger or kill her. She knew that her being dead would solve a few problems for everyone as there would no longer be a fifteen year old burden running around in this dangerous operation.

After a few turns and staircases she arrived at the door to the room Loki was held in. She worried that she would not be able to open the door because it needed a code, but to her surprise the door swung open. Stepping inside she looked around and spotted her father standing just outside the cage. He spotted her and gave her a withering look and she cringed.

"You came," He noted, "I feared you would attempt some sort of heroics and get caught in the crossfire."

Susan climbed the stairs and stood a few feet apart from him. "What do you want me here for?"

"You will be coming with me when I leave."

"So I'm your hostage?"

"Nothing so dramatic, you will just be coming with me because I cannot risk you being captured by SHIELD or, should they not find the solution to the falling helicarrier, going down with the ship."

"You aren't going to kill me?" Susan asked, slightly shocked.

"That would serve no purpose except to distract me from my task as I would be mourning you. Did Agent Romanoff tell you that I would kill you?"

"No, I just kind of assumed," Susan shrugged awkwardly, "You can't blame me for letting the thought cross my mind, not after everything I've seen you do so far."

Loki smirked and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, drawing Susan uncomfortably close to him. "Harming you would cause my own misery, Sigrid, therefore it is an illogical thing to do. Besides, a king needs an heir."

Susan swallowed nervously. "Oh." She squirmed a little under his arm, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Now, I do have a few loose ends to tie up, so if you would be so kind as to stand…" He positioned her in a corner, "Right here."

"Why?"

"You'll see in a moment, but for the time being do not make a noise until I say you can come out," He grinned, "There's a good girl."

A moment later, Loki had cast some sort of illusion to make it look as if he was standing right by the open door of the cell. Then he stood by the control panel that would allow for him to drop the cage out into the sky. Susan wondered what he was up to and then Thor rushed into the room and launched himself at the Loki-copy. Thor landed in the cage, as he passed right through the illusion and Loki chuckled, making the door slide closed.

"Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?"

The brothers argued for a brief time and then Loki began messing with the switches on the control panel. Susan winced as she realized that he was planning on making the cage drop to the ground with Thor still in it. She was about to say some sort of warning, but then her father shot her a look that warned against any such notions.

A man fell to the ground, one of Loki's guards, and another man, who wore a suit and had a receding hairline, stepped forward with the biggest gun Susan had ever seen.

"Move away please." The man in the suit said.

Thor and Loki glanced at each other, obviously wondering what this man intended to do. Susan was staring at the man with the huge gun and wondered if _he _knew what he was doing. Loki backed away from the control panel, eyeing the gun somewhat curiously.

"You like this?" The man asked, "They started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does," He pulled a lever and the whole gun lit up in a brilliant orange, "Wanna find out?" Suddenly the man yelped in pain. Susan gasped loudly, the Loki at the control panel had not been real, the real one had been standing behind the man with the gun. He'd stabbed him through the heart with his scepter, splattering blood. Susan bit her lip to keep from crying out and Thor shouted his protest.

The real Loki smirked, walked over to the control panel after leaving the man on the ground, and opened the glass lid for the button that would drop Thor to his imminent demise. He paused for a moment and opened the air hatch. Susan covered her eyes, not wanting to see the friendly blonde man killed just like Max and the man with the suit.

Loki's hand hovered over the button and Thor glared at him. Loki hit the button and his brother was dropped down, cage and all. There was no way he could survive that. Susan shuddered and then opened her eyes. Loki was stepping toward her, but then the man on the ground spoke up.

"You're going to lose."

"Am I?" Loki leered.

"It's in your nature."

Loki shook his head in disbelief and even Susan had a hard time believing what the dying man was saying. "Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where _is _my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

Loki glowered at the man. "I don't think I…" Before he could finish his sentence a burning ball of orange energy blasted from the gun and sent Loki flying across the room, through the wall, and into another room.

The man on the ground grinned slightly. "So that's what it does."

Nick Fury and a slew of other agents rushed into the room. Fury bent down over his fallen agent and removed the gun from his grip. While they talked paramedics raced in, but it was far too late. Susan clapped her hand to her mouth to keep from sobbing. She had seen too much death in the past day and a half and it was all centered around or caused by her own father. The man on the floor was dragged away on a stretcher and Loki popped back into the room when all of the agents backs were turned. He grabbed her arm and transported them both away. They landed on a bay where men who worked for Loki stood, ushering him into a plane. Loki walked onto the plane with a smile, forcefully dragging Susan along with him by the arm.

Just before she got onto the plane Susan spotted an agent who had been friendly to her earlier. The agent was aiming a gun at Loki, but couldn't shoot because Susan was in the way. Feeling it was the right thing to do, the girl ducked out of the way and nodded for the agent to take a shot. The gun rang out and Loki spun to be hit by a bullet. The projectile had no effect on him, but he aimed the scepter toward the gun wielder.

"Look out!" Susan shrieked, but it was too late. The energy beam hit the agent, leaving him in a heap on the ground. Another agent rushed up and took the first one's place, this time she took out one of Loki's men, but could do no more damage.

"Help!" Susan decided to risk it and shout out for someone to help her, "Please help!"

Loki glimpsed his daughter shouting for help from his enemy and nodded to one of the soldiers. Susan didn't have time to contemplate what this meant, because before she knew what was happening the guard had picked her up, swung her over his shoulder and carried her into the plane. She pounded her fists on his back and tried to kick him, but he didn't budge. He deposited her in the middle of the jet and swiftly handcuffed her to an overhead railing.

"No, please, someone help! Help me!" Her cries were desperate, but no one was listening for they had all been shot down by Loki. The madman himself sauntered into the plane and the door closed. They lifted off and left the helicarrier behind, "Help!" Susan whispered as hot tears formed in her eyes and threatened to spill. She slumped against the wall wearily and closed her eyes to the people around her.

"Pilot, set our course. You know where," Loki ordered, sounding increasingly agitated. He stood by Susan's side, but she didn't pay him any attention. The trickster silently examined his golden scepter and the girl used her free hand to wipe the tears from her face. She opened her eyes and glared at her father.

"You killed them."

"Is that really so shocking to you, Sigrid?" He asked, for once not smiling.

"You killed Thor and all of those agents, why?"

"Because they stood in my way. You spoke of revenge earlier, well, Thor wronged me in the past. That was my revenge."

"Why do you need me to come with you?" Susan spat angrily, "Clearly no one matters to you except yourself, so why would you want me around?"

"I told you before…"

"Oh that's right, you would be 'mourning' and that would distract from the plan, wouldn't it? You know that you wouldn't really mourn me, monsters like you don't grieve!" Susan yelled, taking a step toward him and clanging the handcuffs on the rail that held them.

* * *

Anger welled inside Loki. Who was she to say that he would not mourn? Who was she to call him a monster? She barely knew him! And yet, she knew him all too well by the strife he had caused her. He looked at her face, still wet from the tears that she had cried for Thor, and saw the hatred in her eyes. For a moment - only a moment - he felt regret for his actions. If he had not attempted this plan then he might have met her one day on better terms, she might have enjoyed being in his company and not cringe every time he looked at her. But that was not the path that had been taken. Once the moment had passed Loki realized once more that his actions were for the best. One day Sigrid would come to understand, by her own volition or by his.

"I would not say such things in your position." He hissed.

"Or what? If you really feared my death so much then you won't do anything, will you?" The girl shook her bound wrist angrily, "I'm already in timeout, what else are you gonna do?"

Loki ground his teeth together. He could handle Midgardian heroes and weapons, but this girl infuriated him to no ends. "What of your mother?" He asked, "Or had you forgotten my vow to make her suffer should you disobey?"

"You don't even know where she is."

"After I am ruler of this world I will have access to all the information I need to find her."

"You will never be ruler of this world!"

"And why is that?"

"Because the heroes will stop you." She said it so confidently that it made Loki laugh.

"The heroes you speak of are all scattered or dead! Dr. Banner, has by this time been unleashed on the world in his beastly form, he is lost. Thor has been killed by my own hand and the only three left are that idiotic Captain America, the arrogant Iron Man, and the Black Widow, who is so concerned about her precious Agent Barton that she can barely think straight."

"They could still win."

"On that very slight chance, what do you think would happen to you? SHIELD would not just allow for you to return to your everyday life. They may make it seem as if you can, but they will monitor you, constantly watching. You will be like an animal in a menagerie."

"So what? That's better than having you rule over the earth."

The father sighed heavily. "Why must it be so hard to speak with you? With every comment I make you find a way to argue."

"Well did you think you and I would just get along?!" Sigrid scoffed, "That is complete and utter nonsense, Loki."

"Why is it such a ridiculous notion?"

"Because you are a murderer! And a liar! And…" She would no longer meet his gaze, "And you're evil."

"But I am also your father."

"Well you aren't acting like a father should!"

"It isn't as if I have much of a comparison of how a good father should act!" He shouted, clanging the end of the scepter against the floor, "Odin treated me as the inferior son most of the time and when he did not he was ignoring me. My real father was killed by my own hands, but before that he abandoned me in a frozen wasteland. So, you must forgive me if I am not 'acting like a father should'."

Sigrid winced as he ground out the last syllables of his sentence. "Oh."

"Indeed," Loki growled, calming down a bit. He turned to the pilot in the plane, wondering how much longer it would be until they arrived in New York, "How far is our destination?"

"About a half hour, sir."

"Very good." Within half an hour he would be ready to bring the Chitauri to earth and attack.

"Listen," A small voice said from behind him. Loki spun back to Sigrid to see her meekly playing with the hem of her shirt, "I know you want for us to get along, but it's not going to be that easy."

Loki was surprised at how calm she seemed. "If you…"

"Wait, I'm not done. It's not going to be that easy, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try. I do need some sort of father figure in my life, and even if you aren't ideal I do want to try and get along."

"This is quite a turnaround from a few moments ago. One does not change one's mind so quickly." Loki noted.

"True, but this has been something I've been thinking about for a while. You just keep messing up my chances to tell you. I'm not exactly going to be in a talking mood right after you murder two people in front of me."

"Oh."

"Indeed," Sigrid agreed, "But if you will give me a little time to cool down I'll being willing to talk. Okay?"

"You have half of an hour. When we arrive in New York we will have a discussion."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I know this probably gets old, but I am seriously so grateful to everyone who reviews, favorites, and follows. So THANK YOU! :D This chapter is, like, mega long, so sorry about that, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Have a good day! Thanks for reading! Please review!**

After the estimated half hour the plane arrived in New York and deposited Loki, Susan, and a small band of armed men at Stark Tower. Loki dished out orders to the men and instructed them where to go, he swiftly checked on some large blue cube that Susan assumed was the Tesseract, and then took up a position in what appeared to by Tony Stark's living room. From what Susan knew about Stark, the decorating in the room was just his style. Modern and shiny.

For the whole plane ride and the time that Loki had been sorting out his business with his men Susan had been in handcuffs. Probably to keep her from doing anything stupid or trying to use any weapons. It was degrading, but she put up with it, determined to have a peaceful discussion with her father. When he sauntered into the room, scepter in hand she held out her wrists expectantly.

"Do you mind taking these off?"

He waved his hand over them and the metal cuffs fell to the ground. "A necessary precaution." He noted.

"Right." Susan highly doubted that, but after struggling to control her temper for the whole plane ride she wasn't going to blow up in his face over the handcuff thing. So she tried to remain docile.

"Have you had sufficient time to cool your head, daughter?" Loki asked, stepping over to the window and inspecting the view. Susan had to admit, the view of New York from here was breathtaking. Loki certainly knew how to pick a hideout.

"I guess we'll find out. Are you ready to talk, Loki?" Susan sat down on one of the lavish couches and brought her knees up to her chin, "I know New York is pretty spectacular, but I feel like you might have other plans to get to soon."

Loki grinned at her kindly. "This city may be spectacular, but it does not even compare to you." At this comment Susan rolled her eyes.

"Well you picked a fine time to get mushy. What was that? It's totally out of your character traits," She sighed, "Just come over here and sit down before I lose my cool."

"Sigrid, you are half frost giant, you cannot lose your cool." He chuckled.

"That was… actually a pretty great pun," Susan admitted and Loki nodded his thanks, "But seriously, are we gonna do this or not?"

Loki sat on the couch across from her and opened his arms wide. "What do you wish to talk about?"

"Anything and everything. For as long as we can before you have to go I want to talk as if we were a normal father and daughter working out an issue and not a man bent on world domination and a freaked out teenage girl."

"Interesting that you would choose the words 'freaked out' as you admit that you have fear…" Loki started, that menacing look in his eye.

"Stop right there! No manipulation! Normal dads don't do that."

He laughed loudly. "As if you have so much expertise in the area!"

"Well, considering what I've heard of your past, I _do_ have more experience with what a good father should be like - at least a father figure." Susan had to stop herself from saying anything further. Everytime she thought of Max and then looked to the man before her she saw red and lashed out. Now was not the time for that.

"Fair enough. So, shall I ask you a question or will you ask me one? I assume that is how this is going to go."

"Me first. I think we should start by getting to know each other a little better. What do you like to do for fun?"

"An interesting question," Loki ran a hand through his hair, "It has been sometime since I've done anything fun. I remember I used to like to read quite a bit."

"Huh, I would have never pegged you as a bookworm kind of guy. Okay, you ask a question." Susan was surprised that neither of them had started yelling yet or that there was no threatening happening.

"When is your date of birth?" Loki asked without hesitation.

"August eighteenth, I'll be sixteen this year," Susan smirked suddenly, "What is your middle name?"

"I will only answer this question if you swear to answer it as well." Loki said, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I swear."

"For some reason Frigga choose to call me Loki Bartholomew Odinson," Loki wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Though I've recently changed the surname."

"Bartholomew!" Susan covered her mouth to keep from giggling, "Erm, what a lovely middle name. Who is Frigga?"

"My mother. Odin's wife."

"So Odin isn't your father, but Frigga is still your mother?"

"Not technically, but she is much different than Odin. Stop going off topic, you swore to tell me _your_ middle name." Loki pointed out.

"Hold your horses! It's not every day I figure out I have a grandmother! Is she pretty?"

"Magnificent."

"Is she nice, or is the reason you like her because she's on the dark side?"

"Nay, she is as light as they come."

"I wish I could meet her," Susan sighed, "Despite how horrible the past day and a half have been it's also been really exciting to find out how much family I have now."

She and Loki sat in awkward silence for a moment, but he soon broke it. "So what is your middle name?"

"It isn't as… fancy as Bartholomew," Susan giggled once more, "My mom named me Susan Luna Mort. She used to tell me that the reason she picked that middle name was because my father was the king of the moon and one day he would come back, but he was too busy being king to come now. I guess she wasn't too far off, eh?"

Loki smirked. "I'm hardly king of the moon, Sigrid, but I am a king."

Susan cringed at both his claim to a throne and at his name for her. They reminded her that even if she was pretending now, he was still an evil and manipulative man.

"In any case," Loki said quickly, probably noticing her wince, "You've asked a great deal of questions, I believe it is my turn," He tapped his chin thoughtfully, "What are your friends like? Who do you associate yourself with?"

"I don't have many friends, but the ones I do have are the best anyone could ask for. There is Sharon, who always wears black and claims to be very rebellious, but is actually really nice. There's Mia, who is a really great artist, and Jamal, my boyfriend, and Gwen, who never leaves home without her pet bird, and…"

"Wait, wait, go back a bit," Loki said, suddenly looking a bit worried, "Jamal?"

Susan nodded nonchalantly. "Yes, Jamal. He's my boyfriend. And lastly there is Francine…"

"But when you say 'boyfriend' what do you mean?"

Susan glanced at Loki, saw his concerned face, and laughed. Was he actually worried about her having a boyfriend? It was such a normal, fatherly thing to do that it seemed out of place. "A boyfriend, you know. I go on dates with him? We love each other? Romance?"

Loki's features hardened. "You are far too young to be engaging in such activities!"

"Are you seriously doing this?" Susan asked in amusement.

"Yes, I am seriously doing this!" Loki asked, seeming confused, "When may I meet this boy? Soon I expect."

Susan began giggling uncontrollably.

* * *

It pleased Loki that he had managed to make Sigrid smile and laugh, but it did not please him to hear that she had a "boyfriend". Surely she was too young for that! Who was this Jamal? What did she really know about him? If that Midgardian boy touched his daughter then there would be a high price to pay. Loki began contemplating ways to make the boy's life miserable and Sigrid continued to laugh.

"What in the nine realms is so comical?" Loki snapped.

"I just can't believe _you_ are bothering me about my boyfriend. It's so normal of you!"

"Normal?" What was she blathering about?

"I'm sorry, it's just, my friends are always going on about how their dad's don't like them dating and are always being rude to the guys they like. For one thing I never thought I would have anyone bother me about that and for another I didn't expect you, of all people, to care!"

"Well I do. As I already stated, you are much too young!"

"Oh come on Loki," Sigrid said, not laughing anymore, but still smiling.

"He does not touch you does he? I will make his life a misery if he ever…"

"We just hold hands. We've never even kissed, so don't get your robes in a knot."

"And do you ever expect to kiss? What kind of boy is this in any case? What is his parentage?" Loki asked incredulously, "I cannot possibly condone this relationship!"

"Well, it's a good thing I don't particularly care if you 'condone' it or not," Sigrid was still grinning and shaking her head in disbelief, "Now it's my turn to ask a question."

"Very well, but know that we are not done discussing this subject." Loki warned.

"If you say so," She leaned back into the couch and stared at him, obviously thinking of her next question, "Got it! Who was your first true love?" She waggled her eyebrows teasingly.

Loki considered. As a boy he'd of course has what the humans called "crushes", but he had never loved any of them. "Know that I do not only say this for your benefit, Sigrid, but I believe my first true love was your mother."

"Really? That's sweet, how did you two even meet?"

"I was visiting Midgard just because I was curious about the customs and people. I disguised myself as a human and went into one of the eateries in the area and the waitress serving there accidently spilled my meal on me. I, of course, was highly offended and began yelling at her. However, I was shocked when she began to yell back. That waitress was your mother."

"How the heck did you end up falling in love?"

"Ah ah! You just asked a question. It is my turn."

"Oh come on! Please?"

"Ask your mother one day, though her version might be a bit different than my own," Loki glanced out of the window noticing it was beginning to get late, "We shall have to wrap this up quickly; it is almost time for the portal to be opened."

"Portal?"

"My question is," He said swiftly, ignoring her curious expression, "If we had met under different circumstances what would your opinion of me be?"

Sigrid blinked, slightly shocked by the question. "You mean if I hadn't seen you kill a bunch of people including my stepfather?"

"Must you bring that into every conversation?"

"I meant that as a legitimate question, I'm not trying to be accusatory right now!" Sigrid protested, "I was just wondering what you meant."

"Yes, if you had not witnessed those events." Loki answered clasping his hands together and leaning forward.

"I would think that you were a very sophisticated person who dressed weird. I would think that you are often very rude, but all in all not a bad person," She looked away irritably, "But I would be wrong."

"I thought we were trying to be civil toward one another." Loki pointed out. He liked the way she described him and wished that it were true.

"I'm sorry," She ground out, "It can sometimes be difficult to act civilly toward a murderer. I will try to keep my observations to a minimum."

Loki sighed heavily and looked out the window. What looked to be a missile was shooting through the sky, straight at the building. The Man of Iron had determined the location of the Tesseract. It was impressive, really, that he could find it even after the helicarrier was thrown into utter chaos and the Hulk was realised.

"Sigrid, I cannot argue now," He stood and stepped over to her, "I must find some place safe for you, away from the fight."

"Well that's certainly convenient, isn't it?" The girl grumbled, standing and smoothing her shirt.

"That fool, Stark, is fast approaching. You cannot be in sight when he gets here, who knows what could happen?"

"I won't get in the way, if that's what you mean." She told him.

"You said yourself that you did not wish to see me kill any others, well, if you do not want to see that happening then I would suggest you do as I ask."

"You're going to kill him?" There was shock in her voice.

"If it comes down to it. I have other plans, but if it is absolutely necessary then… yes. He shall die." Loki gripped Sigrid's shoulder and pulled her back into a corridor.

"Ouch! Hey, I can walk myself you know!"

"Just come along already." Loki opened a door to a random room and shoved her in. Using the scepter to seal the door so it could not be opened, he then turned to see Iron Man landing. A machine stripped him of his armor and then the man strode into the room aloofly as if he owned the place.

_Well, I suppose he _does _own the place_. Loki thought tiredly, "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity."

"Uh, actually I'm planning to threaten you." Stark said.

"You should've left your armor on for that."

"Yeah," The man, who looked battered and worn agreed, "It's seen a bit of mileage and you've got the Glow Stick of Destiny."

Loki assumed the "Glow Stick of Destiny" was the scepter and smirked slightly. One thing the Man of Iron could be counted on for was amusement.

"Would you like a drink?" He asked, pouring himself one.

"Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no, no, threatening!" The rich Midgardian corrected, "No drink? You sure? I'm havin' one."

Loki irritably glanced out the window once more. "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers."

Loki furrowed his brow in genuine confusion. Who was he speaking of? Avengers?

"It's what we call ourselves," Stark continued with a roll of his eyes, "Sort of like a team, Earth's Mightiest Heroes type of thing."

"Yes," Loki grinned, "I've met them."

"Yeah," Tony Stark chuckled slightly, "Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one, but let's do a head count here. You're brother, the demigod…"

Loki looked away, wondering what this foolish mortal could possibly be getting at. He'd defeated Thor, had he not? Nay, perhaps not. The cage would not fare well against Mjolnir if the blonde oaf figured out how to do it properly.

"The super soldier - living legend who kinda lives up to the legend. A man with _breathtaking_ anger management issues. A couple of master assassins… And you, big fella," He pointed as if to prove his point, "You've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan." Loki winked smugly.

"Mmm, not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they'll come for you." Drink in hand he began slowly walking toward Loki.

Loki felt like rolling his eyes and mocking the man. "I have an army."

"We have a _Hulk_." As if this was something to be proud of.

"Oh, I thought the beast had wondered off?"

"You're missing the point, there's no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top."

Loki felt his anger rising as the man before him continued to point out how they would "avenge" the earth and so forth and so on. Finally, growing tired of the cocky expression on the other man's face, Loki stepped forward with his staff in hand.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?" The scepter fired up and he tapped Stark's chest with the point, expecting his eyes to glaze bright blue. Instead, the scepter clanged against a harder material of some sort and Iron Man stayed perfectly normal. What was happening here? Was this man not human? Had he no heart? Perhaps it would be best to attempt it a second time. Even the second time it did nothing. "This usually works…"

"Well, performance issues, not uncommon," Stark babbled. Loki knew Sigrid disliked murder, but apparently all else had failed so it left him with little option, "One out of five." Loki darted forth and seized the Man of Iron's throat. He threw him a few feet. The Midgardian mumbled something about a "JARVIS" whatever that was, and got to his feet. Loki grabbed his throat once more.

"You will all fall before me!"

"Deploy!" Loki lifted the man higher, "Deploy!" And tossed him out the window. He heard a shriek from behind him and then the noise of an engine firing up. One of the metal suits flew from a closet and knocked Loki off his feet. He got up and gazed out the window as the red and gold suit followed it's maker and enveloped him, propelling away from the street just in time.

"And there's one other person you pissed off," Stark called, flying up, "His name was Phil." This, of course, had absolutely no meaning to Loki, though he assumed this Phil was one of the agents he'd killed. Not wishing to deal with the metal man much longer, Loki raised his staff and prepared to fire, but Iron Man beat him to it. He flew backwards and the man in the suit flew away, toward a portal that had just opened in the sky. The Chitauri had arrived.

* * *

Susan had found a way out of the room Loki sealed her in, there was a back door that lead to an office and then a door in there that lead to a hallway that lead to the main room where Loki and Tony Stark were hashing it out. She arrived just in time to see her father throw the superhero out the window. Not being able to contain herself she screamed just as a suit of armor flew out of a closet. In a moment Iron Man was back up, wrapped safely in his suit and blasting Loki in the face. Susan cheered silently for her friend and then watched in horror as a blue beam of light shot up into the sky and opened what appeared to be a portal. Strange alien creatures spewed from the portal and down upon New York.

"No," She said quietly.

Loki got up from the pile of rubble he'd landed in and she happened to be standing in his line of vision. "I thought I told you to stay in that room."

"What on earth is that?" She pointed a trembling finger at a strange creature flying by on a hover cart.

"Not on earth, Sigrid, from very far away. They are the Chitauri; my army has arrived." He was grinning despite the many cuts and scrapes he had and Susan wondered in horror what had just happened.

"Your army?" Even when she was kneeling in Germany and watching Max was killed she had never felt such fear in her life.

"As long as you stay with me no harm shall come to you." He strolled over to the window and leered down at the city.

"But what about the rest of the city?!" Susan exclaimed, rushing over to the window as well, unable to tear her gaze from the destruction that was being caused by these creatures, "What about all of the innocent people down there? My mother? My friends?"

"Hopefully a Chitauri blast will find it's way to _Jamal_'s heart," Loki muttered crossly. Louder he said, "There is nothing that can be done about them, just be thankful you are not amongst them." He turned away briskly and spun his scepter joyfully.

"You are revolting!" Susan exclaimed, "You will sacrifice the lives of all of those innocent people just so that you can become king? Disgusting!"

"If you have a problem with seeing it then turn your head the other direction, though you must grow accustomed to it someday if you are to be my heir." Loki stepped closer to her once more and stroked her hair gently. Susan batted his hand away furiously.

"How dare you even touch me! I don't want to be your _heir_." She growled, "Get away from me!" She angrily stepped away from him and spotted an elevator across the room. If he expected her to wait in this penthouse like a good little girl he had another thing coming. Susan put her hand on his chest and gave him a shove for good measure. Then she angrily stalked over to the elevator door and pushed the button to summon it. Loki followed her to the door and gave her a harsh look.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked.

"Leaving. I'd rather be killed by an alien then stick around with you." The doors slid open and she stepped inside. To her dismay, Loki prevented the doors from closing.

"I won't allow it."

Susan felt her anger reach it's highest point and she shouted at the top of her lungs. "_**Try to stop me, FATHER**_**!**" She spat out the last word and jabbed the button that would take her to the lobby and free her.

"With pleasure, Sigrid." Loki snarled. Though Susan had pushed a button that should close the doors no matter what was in the way, he dented them pushing them back. It didn't even look as if he was trying. He stepped into the elevator with her and held out the glowing scepter. Susan eyed it warily and backed away, but the only place left to go was the corner. She was trapped.

"I don't wish to do this, but you are simply too difficult to deal with otherwise," He held the point of the scepter and inch above her chest and Susan tried not to breath, "Either do as I say or I will _make _you."

Stubborn to the last Susan tore her gaze from the glowing staff before her and met the blue eyes that matched her own. "I hate you." With that Loki rumbled his disapproval and tapped her heart with the energy from the Tesseract.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Been a while, huh? Looks like it has been precisely a month. Sorry about that. I had a bit of writer's block for this story and I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to happen. Then I thought up some ideas so I wanted to update. Also, I got a few reviews and I felt bad for leaving you hanging with that major cliff hanger. Thanks again for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)**

When the energy from the scepter worked it's way through Susan's system she blinked in surprise. Her eyes shaded over for a moment and then returned to normal. The girl felt so different, it was as if the whole universe suddenly made sense to her - everything fit into place. She knew exactly what had been going on before she'd been touched by the Tesseract's power, but she now realized that she had been so foolish before. Her mind felt so… expanded.

Before her there was a man with raven colored hair and blue eyes. He had a grim expression on his face as he regarded her warily. It took a moment for her to remember that he was her father. A smile grew on her face, she was so excited that he was _her_ father. All those days without knowing and now she had a father and he was a king! How could life possibly get any better than this?

"Sigrid?" Her father asked. It pained her that he said it with absolutely no emotion in his voice. Was he mad at her? That would be terrible. He looked down his nose at her like a king looking down to a peasant, which, in Susan's mind, was what was happening.

"Yes?" She hastily answered with concern and submission in her voice.

A small smirk formed on his lips and Susan felt relieved. He wasn't unhappy, that was good. He put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"Fine, how do _you_ feel?"

He chuckled a little and guided her gently out of the elevator. "Much better, thank you for asking," He glanced out at the city and saw Chitauri ripping the streets to shreds and generally spreading fear everywhere they went, "Now, Sigrid, this is very important, you must stay in this tower no matter what happens - it is the only place I know that you will be safe."

Susan was touched that he was concerned about her safety, but she was also worried about what would happen to him while he was out in the city. However, she nodded. "Yes, of course, Dad."

* * *

Loki froze in shock when she called him "dad". Even under the power of the Tesseract he was surprised that she would call him something so endearing, even if it was the common term for "father" on Midgard. He couldn't prevent a huge smile from forming on his face.

Sigrid beamed up at him and he pulled her into a hug, as sentimental as it was of him. She embraced him back. It had been a long time since anyone had shown affection to the trickster. Not since before Thor had been first banished to earth. He gently stroked her hair and she rested her head on his chest. They stood like that for a moment; father and daughter. They weren't two people in the middle of a war between worlds, they were just family. Kin.

When they did separate Loki looked into her eyes carefully and she smiled back. "You will be safe if you stay here, but I must go out there for a short time, alright? I promise I'll come back when this whole business is over."

She nodded. "Alright. Be safe."

Since the only person who Loki had seen Sigrid treat kindly was Quigley he was continually astounded by her caring heart. With one more grin in her direction he stepped out onto a balcony and surveyed the beautiful destruction he had caused. His helmet appeared on his head and his armor magically shimmered into place. As he looked out on _his_ city Thor flew into view, brandishing Mjolnir angrily. The Asgardian crown prince landed with a loud _thunk_ and screamed his brother's name.

"Loki!"

Loki turned to face him with a grim expression.

"Turn off the Tesseract of I'll destroy it." Thor warned.

"You can't," Loki lowered his scepter at his brother, "There is no stopping it. There is only the war."

"So be it."

* * *

Susan plastered herself to the window, watching her father fight Thor. It was terrifying to witness. Fear for her father and fear of what was happening filled her. Not thinking, Susan ran to the door and flung herself out onto the balcony to get a better view. Both men's fighting skills were impressive and she couldn't tear her gaze away.

As she huddled on the balcony watching, Thor caught a glimpse of her and his eyes widened. While he looked at her Loki spun the scepter over his shoulder and fired at the blonde man. Silently Susan cheered.

"Miss Mort!" Thor called, "You must get to safety, Susan!"

Loki let out an animalistic growl and jabbed forward. "Leave my daughter out of this, Thor. She is here by her own will."

Thor moved aside of the jabbing scepter and called once more to Susan. "Flee!"

Susan made no response to his warnings. She continued to watch as they fought. They knocked off the letter "K" from the Stark Industries sign and Iron Man (tailed by Chitauri) flew by followed by a jet. The jet slowed and took aim at Loki.

"Look out Dad!" Susan called as the jet fired down at them. Loki threw Thor down and shot a beam at the jet, crippling it. Thor leapt forward and continuously hit his brother, making Susan cry out.

"Look at this!" Thor commanded, "Look around you. Do you think this madness will end with your rule?"

In Susan's eyes Loki seemed to become concerned. She couldn't hear their conversation from her point, but Loki secreted a dagger into his hand and thrust it into Thor's side. Thor groaned loudly and kicked his brother through a window. Susan screamed. Thor looked to her with a grim expression. He glanced over the side of the building briefly and then back to her. She winced and got up quickly, making for the door of the tower to go back inside. Before she could return to the sanctuary of Tony Stark's building Thor was behind her and grasped the back of her neck. She shrieked as he turned her around and looked her in the eye. Susan spat at him and kicked out viciously.

"Susan! Loki has you under his power! You must fight it!" Thor bellowed at her.

The only thing Susan felt like fighting at that moment was Thor. She scratched at his hand on the nape of her neck with her fingernails, but it did no good.

* * *

Loki rose from the broken glass he was sitting in to see Thor holding Sigrid prisoner. He roared angrily and raced to the balcony again. Thor threateningly held the girl over the edge of the building. She stopped wriggling and merely clung to his hand for dear life.

"Sigrid!" Loki gasped, "Thor, return her to me!"

"Dad! Help, please!"

"Not one step closer, Loki, or I swear I will drop her." Thor threatened loosening his grip by the slightest amount.

Loki took a quick over the side of the building. It was an impressive drop, but that wasn't what he was looking at. About a block off a Chitauri warrior was flying toward them. Loki sent a command through the scepter to the warrior to be prepared to catch the girl.

"Thor," Loki said coaxingly, "I thought you were the hero of the family. Would you seriously murder a young innocent girl?" The Chitauri was still too far off to catch her should she fall so he must stall for time.

"To save Midgard I would easily kill one frost giant." Thor sneered.

Loki felt his blood boil. "But she is part Midgardian as well - the people you have promised to protect. If you killed her would you not be breaking your oath?"

"Perhaps, but this is much bigger than one little girl." Thor declared without wavering.

Loki was almost certain his brother was bluffing (heroes never killed to advance their position), but just in case he needed to wait for that Chitauri to get into position. What was taking that accursed creature to get into place?

"Please, Dad!" Sigrid wailed, kicking her feet slightly.

Loki took a step and Thor loosened his grip a little. Loki put his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "What would you have me do to have her safely returned?"

"Shut down the Tesseract and send the Chitauri back." Thor ordered confidently.

Loki bit the inside of his cheek, contemplating the situation. If Thanos and the Other weren't in the equation he might have decided more easily to save his daughter. Should he really surrender to the Avengers and forget his quest to be king over a Midgardian girl he had only met within forty-eight hours? If she had not been his daughter he would have let Thor kill her on the spot, but Sigrid was his own flesh and blood. The only true family he had left in the nine realms. He growled slightly. He could always have more children of course, but now that he had gotten to know Sigrid it would be harder to let her go. Why did he have to form a bond with her? Such _sentiment_ disgusted him, but he couldn't help how he felt. If he let her die then he had more of a chance at becoming king, but even then the Avengers seemed more collected than ever before and had a decent chance at halting his plans. However, if he saved her by shutting down the Tesseract then his plan would be over in the blink of an eye and he would not doubt be shipped off to some Asgardian dungeon or executed. If Thor was bluffing then he wouldn't have to make the choice. Thor would never hurt the girl, even if her father was a dastardly villain. Loki made his decision and jumped forward to save his daughter.

* * *

Sigrid squirmed when she heard what Thor wanted in return for her safety. That price was much too high for her measly life. The Tesseract programing in her told her that she should let Thor drop her to further the plan. She was about to call out this information to her father so that he wouldn't waste anymore energy trying to save her when he lunged forward.

Thor's grip on her neck was no longer present and she felt herself falling through the air. Gravity forced her toward the ground and she shrieked. She saw her father above her reaching his hand toward her uselessly. Not wanting to see the pain she caused him, Susan closed her eyes and waited to hit the ground, her heart beating violently in her chest.

Long before the pavement and Susan's body became acquainted with one another she felt something else hard collide with her. She opened her eyes to see Iron Man holding her. Knowing he was one of her father's enemies she struggled in his grip. Rather than attempt and deal with her wiggling Tony Stark said something to his AI.

"JARVIS, sedative please." The billionaire requested. A needle flicked out of the finger on his suit and he injected it into her arm. Susan felt herself slipping out of consciousness. Before she passed out she had one last thought.

_Poor Loki, things really aren't going in his favor._


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hi guys! Two updates in one week, impressive. Right? Well, for me anyway. Okay, well, let's get this show on the road. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, I'm glad you're all so excited for this update because I'm pretty excited too. Enjoy!**

When Susan woke up she was back in Stark Tower, but the place had been smashed up a bit by the looks of things. She was laying on a couch with the Avengers standing nearby. As soon as she sat up she felt a sharp pain in her head and one by her ribs. A groan escaped her mouth and Tony Stark was the first one to turn around and see that she was awake.

"Hey Jinx!" He chirped cheerfully.

"Hi," She croaked over the throbbing of her head, "What's going on? Where am I? Why does my head hurt? Where's my father?"

"Slow down with the questions, kid," Tony smirked, "Thor threw you off the building, remember?"

"Why am I not dead? Or at least really, really splatted?" She winced.

"Because Thor throwing you off the building was part of the plan. I caught you and dropped you someplace safe for a while and then we took down Loki about an hour ago."

"Oh," She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. Wasn't she supposed to be serving Loki right now? Hadn't he taken over her head with that scepter? She swallowed nervously when she realized that she had been prepared to die so that he'd become king, "How come I'm not under his mind-control thing anymore?"

"Err…" Tony grinned sheepishly, "You started to wake up a while back and you were going on and on about how Loki should be king and that we'd never be able to stop him so Thor bonked you on the head with his hammer a little and you went back out. Apparently hitting someone on the head is a sure way to make them not be mind-controlled anymore."

A man Susan had never seen before, who was holding a bow and a few arrows grinned down at her and offered his hand for a fist bump. "I was in that boat for a while too. Not a fun place to be, am I right?"

Susan bumped his fist and grimaced again as her ribs had a shock of pain run through them. "Ah!" She hissed.

"Are you alright?" Bruce Banner asked.

"My ribs really hurt." She ground out.

"Hmm… maybe you broke something when Tony caught you. I can look you over if you'd like," The doctor offered. Susan nodded and Banner took a look at her ribs. A moment later he smiled slightly, "I'm not certain, but I pretty sure that you're just bruised."

"Okay, thanks," Susan fell quiet and looked around the room, searching for one face in particular, "Um… where exactly is Loki?"

"You don't have to worry about him," Black Widow said, "We've got him locked up in a holding cell here at the tower."

"I knew it wasn't a waste of money to have one of those installed!" Tony put in and Susan giggled at his enthusiasm.

"Miss Mort?" A deep voice asked. Thor stepped forward with an embarrassed expression on his face, "I hope I did not offend you when I dropped you off of the building…?"

"No, no I get it. I was a good bargaining chip."

"Hey Jinx, you've got a visitor." Tony said, gesturing to a security camera's screen nearby. On the screen there was a very angry Amy Mort yelling at Director Fury. Susan sighed with relief. Her mom was okay.

"Can I see her?"

"Yeah, just as soon as Nick tells her some stuff. Briefing, government documents to sign, all of the usual protocol." Tony said dismissively.

"In the meantime, could I possibly, you know, talk to Loki?"

Agent Romanoff gave her a skeptical look. "Why?"

"I just want to tell him something." Susan sighed.

"Come on, kid, I'll show you the way." Tony offered.

Susan got off the couch, clutching her bruised ribs and hobbled over to the elevator with Iron Man. He pushed a button that took them to the basement of the building and then lead her to a dark room and flicked on the light switch. In the center of the room there was a cage with shimmering, technologically advanced walls. In the middle of the cage Loki sat, bound to a metal chair with his hands behind his back. He didn't look up when they entered the room, just hung his head and sighed. From what Susan could see of his face he was covered in little scratches, scrapes, and bruises.

"Have you come to taunt me, Stark?" Loki asked pitifully.

"Nope!" Tony said, popping the "P", "I did enough of that earlier. I wouldn't even be down here if it weren't for this young lady. She wanted to talk to you."

Susan expected her father's head to jerk up and look at her as he had the times before, but he remained in his depressed, slumped state. He let out a shaky breath, but that was the only noise he made.

"Aren't you going to say hi?" Tony asked.

"Leave me to my mourning, Stark, and stop jeering at me with false hopes."

_Mourning?_ Susan thought, _What could he possibly mourning? Losing? What a sore loser._

"False hopes? I would never!" Tony gasped, "If you'd look up for a second then you would see that I am telling the truth."

* * *

When Sigrid had fallen off of the balcony Loki reached his hand for her in a pitiful attempt to save her. The Chitauri hadn't come in time and Thor hadn't been bluffing. Before he could see anything else that happened to his daughter, Loki was pulled back by Thor and tossed once more into battle. He hadn't allowed himself to think about Sigrid's death while the battle was going on, but once it was over and the Avengers were crowned as the victors he felt his frozen heart ache. She was dead. Sigrid/Susan Luna Mort had died because of his obsession with becoming king. No! She had died because of Thor Odinson! Now revenge and mourning were the only things on his mind.

Stark was blabbering about a young lady wanting to speak with him. No doubt taunting him with a morsel of hope that Sigrid was alive. This was cruel even for Tony Stark, dangling hope and then ripping it away seemed more like something Loki himself would do. When Stark instructed him to look up Loki didn't want to oblige at first. After all, it was probably just another barb to get him to think Sigrid was still alive. Then, when he did look up the destible man would laugh and jeer some more. However, even though his brain knew Stark was only mocking him, his heart wanted to see, wanted to believe. He glanced up through his matted hair and intook breath sharply.

"Sigrid?" He whispered so softly only he could hear it. He straightened and gazed at the teenage girl before him in disbelief. Surely it must be some sort of technological trick. Stark was baiting him further with a holographic illusion. There was no way she could have survived a drop from the top of the tower.

"Hey," The illusion smiled slightly, "I hope I'm not interrupting your self pity and wallowing."

"How?" Loki gasped. His expression turned dark and he glared at Stark, "What sort of trick is this? Why are you showing me this? It is not enough that you won you must also rub salt in the wounds of a mourning father?!"

Tony put his hands up defensively. "I'm not doing anything of the sort."

The illusion of Sigrid seemed surprised. "'Mourning father?' What are you talking about?"

"Oh that's right!" Tony exclaimed, "Barton suggested that we let Loki believe you died. Since Hawkeye couldn't kill him this was the next best form of revenge I guess."

Loki made low growling noise. "What are you saying, Stark?"

"Surprise! Susan isn't dead! Yay!"

Loki pulled against his bonds and tried to stand, but the chair and chains held him firmly in place. "What?! You let me believe my only child, my daughter, had perished?! All for a petty revenge?!"

"Petty? I'd say it was pretty well deserved," Tony snorted, "But yeah, that's the gist of it."

Sigrid scowled at the Man of Iron and looked at Loki with a soft expression. For a moment he thought she was still under the control of the scepter, but surely that wasn't possible. Perhaps she just pitied him.

"Well I'm not dead. Iron-head over here saved me." She jerked her thumb at him jokingly.

Loki smiled in relief. "So you're alright?"

"I've got a bump on my head from where Thor bopped me, and my ribs are bruised, but besides that I'm okay. At least physically…"

Loki sighed. "Good." He looked once more to Tony Stark and put on his proudest face. "I owe you a thanks, Stark. For saving my daughter."

"She was never really in any danger, Thor and I had the whole thing planned." Loki was no longer paying attention to what the Midgardian said, he was just gazing at his daughter, marveling in the fact that she was still breathing.

"So, I, uh, I guess things didn't exactly go as you planned, huh?"

"No," Loki couldn't help but smirk at the sheer epicness of his failure, "They did not."

"I'm glad," Sigrid admitted, "I think your ego is big enough without you becoming king of the whole planet."

Loki laughed out loud. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I wouldn't want to get such a big head that I don't fit into my 'reindeer helmet'." He felt his heart warm a tad when she giggled at his comment.

"You know, I think it looks a bit more like cow horns."

"That's what Thor says too! I just don't understand, it is a mighty warrior's helmet!"

"That looks like a cow." Sigrid snickered.

"Really, I don't understand Midgardian fashion. How can you walk around wearing such repulsive clothing? Honestly." He shook his head mockingly.

"Oh? What's so 'repulsive' about a T-shirt and jeans?" Sigrid raised an eyebrow, gesturing to her own attire, which was covered in stains, rips, and splotches of blood.

"A young lady shouldn't be wearing trousers, first of all. In Asgard you would be fitted in a gown of silks and gold and you would shine above all else." Loki described, wondering what it would have been like if she had been raised in his home realm. Odin and Frigga wouldn't have approved at first, considering her mother was Midgardian, but Loki thought they would have grown to love her. Just as he did.

"Silks? Pssshh!" Sigrid laughed, "Why? Isn't that just want really rich people would wear?"

"Well you'd have been a princess of sorts."

"What do you mean?"

"Before I fell from Odin and Frigga's graces I was a prince, didn't you know that?" It seemed odd even to him, that seemed like such a long time ago. The days when he was a respected figure in Asgard were gone.

"Seriously? Well, yeah, I guess Thor is the prince and he calls you his brother so… yeah. Wow." Sigrid said as if impressed.

"Yes, but that was a long time ago. I am nothing but the fallen son of Asgard now." Loki's face was dark once more.

"Did Odin kick you out or something?"

"I was adopted."

"I already knew that. Why are you 'fallen'?"

"Because I am adopted!" Loki said bitterly.

"Huh? What, did your parent's not know you were adopted and then kicked you out after they found out? That seems pretty impossible."

"Of course they knew. I just didn't know."

"You still aren't making any sense. Why are you the 'fallen son of Asgard'? Did Odin just one decide he didn't like you anymore and give you the boot or what? Being adopted can't automatically lead to you being kicked out, can it?"

Loki gave an exasperated sigh. Was she daft? "I found out my true lineage and I was disgusted. Odin and I fought a little and I did some 'regrettable' things that made him disgusted with me, including attacking a small town on Midgard in attempt to kill Thor. I went too far there and Odin cast me out and I quite literally fell from Asgard. Do you understand now?"

"So…" She mused, "You tried to kill your brother and did some other bad stuff and they kicked you out? Sounds reasonable. I mean, a parent's love is usually unconditional, but I guess in Asgard things must be different."

Loki was silent, unwilling to admit that it had mostly been his choice to leave Asgard. Sigrid turned to the Man of Iron for a moment and whispered something inaudible to him. Stark scowled and left the room.

"Why were you disgusted when you found out about your heritage?" The girl asked, going over to where another chair was and pulling it in front of the cage.

"Frost giants are the enemies of the Asgardians. I grew up hating them."

"You know what?" Sigrid announced, "I think you were a good person who made a lot of really, really, really, _really _rotten choices. Have you ever considered asking Odin for forgiveness? I bet…"

"No!" Loki hissed. She jumped in her seat at his sudden outburst, "I will not fall to such a level as to grovel before his feet. I am a king!"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "No, right now you're a criminal and nothing more."

Loki glared at her. "Oh? So am I not even your father any longer? Are we back to this childish denial and hatred?"

* * *

Susan cringed inwardly. She'd come down here to make peace before he went back to Asgard and was locked up for the rest of his life. She didn't want him to leave when they were on such bad terms - he was still part of her family.

"No," she said quietly, "You're still my father."

"Yet you say I am nothing more than a criminal." Loki scoffed.

"Poor choice of words I guess. You aren't a king, but you are my father. Can we part as, well, not friends exactly, but as not-enemies at least?"

He looked at her curiously. "What do you mean 'part'?"

"Well, I assumed that since Thor is taking you to prison on Asgard we'd never see each other again…" Susan hoped that was the case, anyway.

"You won't come to Asgard and visit me?"

This caused her to erupt with laughter. "Me? In Asgard? Another world? How would I ever pull that off?"

"Despite the fact that he threw you off the side of the building, I'm sure Thor would be more than willing to take you to your true home. You can leave with us when we go back. I know I won't be able to be a proper father from the dungeon, but at least we won't be in two separate worlds…"

"I knew you were crazy but you honestly expect me to leave everything I know - my mom, my friends, my life, my _world_ \- just so I can see you?" She shook her head incredulously, "No way."

"What if you didn't have a choice in the matter?"

"Is that, like, the only response to anything I do that you don't like? Haven't you ever heard about talking something out? Finding a compromise? Diplomacy? You just go right to 'you don't have a choice'." She did a poor impression of his voice for the last bit.

Loki chuckled. "I am the father, you are the child. That's how it goes."

"Didn't you ever argue with Odin? Did you just blindly do whatever he asked of you? Don't bother telling me that you never got into one argument with him, because I know that's gotta be a lie."

"Be that as it may, in this matter you may really have no choice at all."

"What do you mean?" Susan asked suspiciously.

"So far it would seem that Midgardians don't take kindly to finding 'aliens' among them. I heard of an Asgardian from long ago who tried to live on Earth. When your precious SHIELD found about him they imprisoned him. Had he not been killed then there is no doubt he would have been sent back to Asgard as soon as possible. Humans don't want us here."

"But I'm not…" Susan paused. She was an alien. She was half frost giant. Would SHIELD make her go with Thor and Loki when they left? Would she get a say in the matter? Surely they couldn't send a girl who was born and raised as a human to a foreign world. Could they?

"You are. They can send you off with us as easily as they would throw away a scrap of garbage." He said, echoing her thoughts.

"What about my mother? She'll fight to keep me here. In fact, she's in this building, so they can't take me away." Susan cried triumphantly.

"Amy is here?" Loki blushed a little and Susan could imagine how incredibly awkward it would be if she were to bring the pair of them together. She was tempted to just to see her father's reaction.

"Yeah, a SHIELD agent went and brought her here to brief her about what's going on." Susan looked down at her nails and picked them a little, trying to calm herself down.

"I'm sure your mother will make a valiant effort to keep you here, but if SHIELD doesn't want you on this planet then there isn't much she can do about it." Loki commented.

Susan took a few breathes and ran her hands through her hair anxiously. "I thought they were the good guys…"

"They are the protectors of Midgard and if protecting this planet involves sending one person off to another planet then so be it."

"Good grief," She began laugh with hysteria, "I'm _such_ a threat to the Earth. Sheesh!"

"Hey Jinx!" Tony Stark called over a speaker that was in the corner of the room, "Your mommy dearest is going to make a bigger mess than the Hulk if you don't get up here soon - Hey you can't use that!" He was interrupted by a familiar female, scolding voice also on the loudspeaker.

"Susan? Are you okay? Where are you? Get up here right this minute young lady! No Mr. Stark I will not give the mic back, she's _my_ daughter. Susie, please come here, I'm so worried." And just like that Amy began sobbing over the speaker and Susan felt the guiltiest she had ever felt in her life.

Loki raised an eyebrow and gave Susan a questioning look. "You'd best do as she says, Sigrid, believe me when I say that you wouldn't want to invoke the wrath of Amy Mort."

"No kidding," Susan got up from her chair and gave the man in the cage one last look, "If I don't end up going to Asgard then this might be the last time I ever see you."

Loki stared at her and Susan stared back, both with a thousand unsaid words on the tips of their tongues. The father nodded to her.

"If that is indeed the case then goodbye, my Sigrid."

"Yeah, bye Lo- Dad." She'd allow him that title at least once while she wasn't under mind control. She could tell he did care for her, he was just doing it all wrong.

After they'd said farewell Susan stepped into the elevator. She didn't even have to push any buttons because the lift seemed to be pre programmed with the correct floor number. When the doors swung open again Amy Mort was standing at the ready and flung herself at her daughter. The mother and daughter embraced and then the tears started. Tears for Max, tears for New York, and tears of joy for being reunited.

"Susie!" Amy sobbed.

"Mom!" Susan cried back.

Amy pulled back a little and looked into her daughter's eyes and then began the customary mother-checkup to make sure no harm had come to her "baby".

"My word! You have scratches and cuts everywhere! Your clothes are torn! Is that a bump on your head?" Amy clucked.

"Mom, I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken up."

Amy sighed. "They told me that you met your, um, the… err, Loki."

"My father." Susan agreed.

"Susie, I'm so sorry…"

"It's not your fault! How could you have known that when I went to Germany for a while I'd bump into my biological father and he'd try to take over the earth? It is not your fault."

"I should have told you more about your father before anything like this could have happened."

"Did you know that he was from a different world?"

Amy smirked secretively. "Yep. He told me, and I didn't believe him until a giant beam of light came down and transported him right out of Central Park! I never saw him again after that, but, yeah, I knew he wasn't from our world."

"You know, I really think you should have told me that _minor_ detail." Susan laughed.

"Probably," Amy giggled, hugging her daughter again, "So, uh, what did you think of him?"

"Well… he's kind of psychotic. Not really a great role model. He and I get in a lot of fights, but all in all he isn't the worst dad I could have." Susan shrugged and the Avengers exchanged looks. In their minds there was absolutely no one in the nine realms less qualified to be a father.

"You're such an optimist," Amy sighed.

"So, what did you do while I was away?" Susan asked, wanting to change the subject.

"I started the week planning a wedding, but I finished it out by preparing for a," Amy sniffled, "A funeral. And then after that I kind of had to evacuate our apartment building because of the invasion. I was also worried about you for every minute of that time. Not a great few days, huh?"

"No. Not very great at all," Susan agreed, "But we're both still safe and we're together."

"Ahem," Someone cleared their throat behind them, "I hate to break this up," Nick Fury said, "But we have a few things we need to hash out regarding Susan and her father."

"Right, of course. What do we need to talk about?" Amy asked, swiping at a tear that threatened to fall.

Thor stepped forward. "For one, we need to discuss where Miss Mort will be living."

Amy stiffened and glared suspiciously at the group of superheroes before her. "She will be living with me and that's all there is to it. Neither of us has done a thing to suggest otherwise and I assume you will let us go about our lives just as usual."

"Ma'am," Fury sighed, "After Loki's attack and his other actions on our planet Susan might not be safe here anymore. Other organizations may seek her out to harm her because of who her father is. The only way we know we can keep her safe is by sending her with Thor and Loki to Asgard."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello my Midgardian, Asgardian, and Jotun pals! I have another chapter for you! *screams enthusiastically* Yay! Did you think our story would be ending at the same time the Avengers movie ended? Nope! Of course, this means that we are venturing into uncharted waters, but I guess I'll just have to get into the boat and paddle, eh? By the way, what do you think of my completely illogical cover? Yeah, I like it too. In regards to your lovely reviews I say thank you. To tiger49, who so nicely pointed out that Loki's eyes are green, I say: Thank you for your concern toward the accuracy of my story! I understand that it's a question of debate whether his eyes are blue or green, but since I'm already this far into the thing I'm just gonna keep on sayin' their blue. Besides, if we're being technical, aren't they actually red since he's a frost giant? In anycase, thanks to everyone who reviewed, or followed, or favorited! :) On with the story!**

Loki couldn't help but smirk when he heard that Sigrid was going to Asgard. He knew she would be displeased greatly, but for once he was very happy with one of Director Fury's choices. In Asgard there would only be two familiar faces to turn to and one of those faces was his own. Surely this would mean she would trust him. It was exactly what he'd wanted to happen, the only tweak he would make would be that he was king of Asgard. Small details, really.

From inside the cage the Avengers had put him in he listened to Thor tell him what was going to happen. The three of them would make use of the Tesseract and transport to Asgard, where Loki would be punished for his crimes. Thor would go about life as usual of course.

"And Miss Mort will be raised by Mother and Father… at least that is the plan. I know Mother will agree to it, but I'm unsure how Father will react." Thor rambled.

"I'm sure Odin will be _thrilled_ to raise the child of a frost giant. He couldn't possibly have any qualms about _that_." Loki rolled his eyes.

"Loki, Susan will receive excellent care from whomever raises her - I promise you." Thor said solemnly.

"How often will Sigrid be allowed to visit me?"

"Probably not often at first, but if you behave admirably then she will no doubt be granted permission whenever she desires," Thor stared his brother in the eye, "It depends on you."

There was a _ding _as the elevator arrived, before Loki could answer. The doors swung open and at first they assumed that Sigrid had come to see her father once more, but they realized it was actually the girl's mother. Loki stiffened and Thor nodded at the woman.

"Lady Mort," Thor said, "I shall leave you two in privacy."

Amy flashed a quick smile to Thor and then turned to Loki. Her face was hard to read, but Loki sensed anger and a bit of fear. Good. Fear was the proper response to what he had done.

"Hello Amy," Loki sneered at her, despite every bone in his body telling him to be polite, "Do you miss your fiance?"

Amy ground her teeth and clenched her fists. She was filled with rage, he could tell, more intensified than he'd ever seen before. "Hello Loki," Was all she managed to say.

"I asked you a question." He commented.

"And I refused to answer it," Amy shot back, "You'll just have to deal with it."

"How has our daughter taken to the news?"

"Don't you even _dare_ call her 'ours', she is _my_ daughter. I raised her, I've cared for her, I know her better than anyone else. You didn't even know she existed until this week!"

"That's not my fault!" Loki snarled.

"Oh yeah? Who is the one who left? Did I? No! You said you'd come back, but I must have been some sucker to fall for that one because you never came." Amy yelled.

"I'm back now, aren't I?"

"To take over the Earth!"

"I'm still back."

"You said you'd come back for _me_. Not the destruction of my planet!" Amy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Okay, okay… let's calm down."

"I'm perfectly calm." Loki smirked.

Amy shot him a glare, but then her eyes softened. "Could I at least know what happened? Why did you leave? Did you ever intend to come back? If so, why didn't you?"

"My father - uh - my adopted father called me back because of a battle that I needed to fight in. I fully intended to come back, but for a long time I was kept busy with tasks my adopted father set me on…" Loki continued to explain all that had happened to Thor and himself with the Bifrost, Midgard, the Destroyer, and the Avengers. When he was finished he looked to see her response. She was biting her bottom lip nervously.

"Wow," Amy sighed, "That's a heck of an excuse."

"I realize that I have made many poor choices, and I've been a low quality father, but I hope to make up for that soon."

"From prison?"

"From wherever it takes."

Amy sat in the chair on the outside of the cage and looked him in the eye. "Is there anything _you_ can say to convince them to leave her here? Anything at all?"

"Perhaps, but I won't."

"You won't even try?" Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes.

"I _want _her to come to Asgard, why would deter it from happening?"

"Because I am her mother! She needs me!" Amy finally sobbed, "Don't you want what's best for Susan?!"

Loki wrinkled his nose. "Why did you name her Susan?" He asked.

"I asked you a question, Loki!"

"And I refused to answer it, Amy," Loki mocked, "Tell me why you named her Susan."

"If you aren't answering my questions then why should I answer yours?"

"You know that I want what is best for her, you and I simply have differing opinions on what that is." Loki answered, "Now that I've answered tell me your reason for giving her that awful name."

Amy scoffed quietly. "You really think that after all you put me through I'd stick to our plan? I don't even remember what the plan was and when she was born I was too angry at you to keep a promise."

Loki exhaled and tipped his head back. "The plan was that we were to marry one day and have two children, a boy named Paul, after you father, and a girl named Sigrid."

"Well it looks like none of that plan worked out for you, just like your plan to take over the Earth," Amy sniffed, "The only time I ever want to see you again is if you are bringing Susan home and even then I'd prefer Thor to do it." The woman rose from the chair and proudly stepped out of the room. Loki didn't see that once the elevator doors closed she collapsed on her knees and wept. Loki didn't know that he had been her last resort to keep the girl on Midgard. All he knew was that for once something was going his way. Sigrid would come to Asgard and she would finally stop seeing him as a monster.

* * *

Susan had all but thrown a temper tantrum when Nick Fury declared that she had to go to Asgard. Leaving her whole life behind sounded like the worst possible thing in that could happen - and she'd seen her stepfather murdered before her eyes and her real father do the murdering. She'd refused, argued, and even stomped her foot, but the Avengers and SHIELD all seemed to agree that it would be best for her to go. It could have been her imagination, but Thor actually seemed excited.

Susan's mother had gone down to talk things out with her father and Susan had been locked in one of Tony Stark's guest rooms for fear she would run off. The girl was still trying to figure out a way to get the window open and get down to the street that way when a SHIELD agent came in and tossed her a suitcase. The agent left abruptly as he had come and Susan curiously opened the suitcase. Inside, a handful of her clothes had been packed along with her hairbrush, toothbrush, and the necklace Max had given her with the blue bird pendant. The little bird necklace made her heart hurt from mixed feelings of joy and sadness. She felt joy to see it again and sadness because she remembered what had happened to Max.

Fastening the necklace clasp around her neck, she felt a little braver. Now she'd always have a little piece of him with her as well as a piece of home. She allowed herself one moment to wonder what Asgard would be like and to dream of the golden palace described in legend. Would that palace be her home? Or would she be sent to live elsewhere in the sparkling realm? The daughter of the 'fallen son of Asgard' probably wouldn't be welcomed into the city with open arms. If she was thinking realistically then they'd probably lock her in prison like they were going to do to Loki.

"Knock, knock!" Tony called, opening the door, "Sup Jinx?"

"Oh you know, being shipped off to a different realm."

"You ever had shawarma?"

"I can't saw that I have." Susan smiled slightly.

"Well, the rest of the Avengers and I were going to get some. You wanna come?"

"Should you all be going? What if Loki escapes while you're away?"

"You don't have to worry about that. Thor set his hammer on Loki's lap. Your crazy daddy ain't going nowhere."

"Your double negative is very reassuring," Susan rolled her eyes and got up, "Well, it might be my last chance to ever try shawarma, as they probably don't deliver to Asgard, so yeah, I'll go."

"As our dear Captain America would say: nifty!" Tony scratched his chin, "Or is that a phrase from the sixties? I can't remember." He shrugged and walked out of the room.

Susan followed him out of the guest room with her suitcase in tow. She didn't want to take her eyes off her personal belongings in case she got sucked up to Asgard without them. The Avengers and Susan (Amy didn't want to come, still hating the superheroes for sending off her daughter) settled in a little restaurant. The all ordered some shawarma and ate in silence. After a long, painful day the juicy meats and vegetables tasted good. When they had finished Thor announced that it was about time he took Loki back to Asgard. Susan winced but didn't say a word. She merely picked up her suitcase and followed the group back to Stark Tower.

When they reached the tower Thor went to retrieve Loki, who he brought up in chains and a gag. Susan wondered why he had a gag, but didn't complain in the least. Amy stepped up to her daughter and squeezed her shoulder gently. The mother and daughter watched Loki pass by them, neither showing their emotions on their faces. He glanced at Amy and then stared at Susan. She felt uncomfortable, but didn't move.

Everyone split up and reconvened at a square in the park. They exchanged goodbyes with one another. Susan didn't feel much like talking to the others, she just stood by her mother. Thor held the Tesseract in a glass container and gestured at Susan that it was time to go. Amy quickly wiped away her tears and looked her daughter in the eye.

"Now, don't forget to brush your teeth. And remember to dress warmly when it's cold out. Be respectful to your elders. If you can't sleep then try some herbal tea. Don't forget…"

"Mom, stop," Susan sighed, "You're making this like just a trip to a friend's house or something. It's not. I'm going to be gone _forever_."

"I know it's just…" Amy's lip wobbled a little.

Both women broke down into tears and hugged each other. They said their goodbyes, but continued to hold hands. Tony, who always felt awkward in this kind of situation, pulled out an instant camera and snapped a picture of them. Once the picture printed he handed it to Susan. He proceed to take a selfie and then give that picture to her to.

"There, now you'll never forget us." He smiled.

"Where did you even get that camera?" Susan giggled through her tears.

"I'm Iron Man, Jinx, don't doubt me." He winked.

"Miss Mort, I believe it is time to go," Thor said gently, "If you would please take my hand we can be off."

* * *

Loki didn't really get what the gag on his mouth was for. What was he going to do? Yell profanities at them? The uncomfortable thing was hardly necessary.

As Sigrid and her mother were embracing for the last time Loki found that he was rather impatient to get back to Asgard - even if that was to be the place of his imprisonment. That was the place he and Sigrid would get along, where she would come to know him better.

Thor beckoned the girl over and instructed her to take his hand. Loki wished he wasn't wearing the accursed gag so that he could ask her to hold his hand instead, but that was not how things would go. Sigrid took Thor's hand and gazed lovingly toward her mother. Loki guessed that Sigrid wanted Amy to be the last thing she saw before she left Midgard entirely. The Tesseract was put into use and the trio ascended to Asgard.

They landed firmly on the Rainbow Bridge and a group of guards surrounded them. Loki's "leash" was handed off to a royal guard and the other guards began congratulating Thor on his victory. Sigrid stood awkwardly off to the side where no one noticed her. Loki shuffled as close to her as he could in the shackles.

"This is Asgard?" The girl asked, looking around in wonder.

Loki nodded, still being gagged.

"Is that big golden building the palace?"

Another nod.

"I can't believe you lived there! It's huge!"

Loki caught the eye of the guard who was holding the chains, and then gestured to his gag. The guard sighed and took the thing off. Loki moved his jaw a little, thankful to be rid of it. He turned back to Sigrid.

"Yes, that is the palace. Thor tells me that it will be your home as well. He says that Odin and Frigga will raise you from this point forward." He didn't tell her that Odin would disapprove of her being there.

"I'm going to live in the _palace_ with the _king_ and the _queen_?!" She sounded genuinely shocked.

Loki smiled in amusement. "Where else would you live?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, prison?"

"Why in the nine realms would you go to prison? You've done nothing against Asgard's rules. It is I who has committed the crime."

"Yeah, but I'm your kid. In some cultures that enough to get you put in jail."

"That's ridiculous. Odin may not be my favorite person in the universe, but for the most part is fair when it comes to such matters."

"Loki?"

"Yes?"

"What will Odin and your mother think of me?" He noticed that her voice trembled slightly. Of course she would be nervous, she'd just left behind her entire world - literally.

"It doesn't matter what they think, you are not what others make you out to be, you are yourself." He said in a partially comforting, partially arrogant manner.

"Yeah, yeah, be yourself and all that," She nodded impatiently, "But what will they think of me? What are they like?"

"I cannot say for certain what they will think of you or how they will regard you immediately, but I know that they will grow to adore you," Loki sighed, "As for what they are like… how can I put this? Well, Frigga is everything a kind hearted mother should be and Odin, as Thor once put it, is an old man and a fool."

"Thor said that?"

"Our roles were reversed then."

"Thor was bad?"

"More like, proud and pig-headed."

"Hey! You, don't speak of the Prince of Asgard in such a way!" One of the guards snapped. The guard looked at Sigrid, "What's this? A Midgardian souvenir?"

If Loki kept a list of all those he wanted to kill this guard's name would have just been bumped to the top. "This 'souvenir' is my daughter." Loki hissed.

"The prisons are already full of enough scummy creatures, why would we want another one? Honestly, it isn't bad enough we have to house you, Trickster, but we must also provide a cell for your dirty offspring?"

Loki jerked forward in a furious attempt to harm the guard for his slander, but three more guards held him back. Sigrid was wincing, and whether it was at Loki's violence or the guard's rude words that offended her was unknown.

"Calm down!" Thor boomed over the din of Loki trying to kill the guard, "What is going on?!"

"Your Highness, the prisoner was attempting to kill a member of the royal guard without provoke of any kind." A guard answered smartly.

"Without provoke?!" Loki bellowed, lunging for the guard, "How dare you speak such a filthy lie?!"

"Loki, calm yourself! What is your side of the tale?" Thor asked.

"This insolent fool was speaking ill of Sigrid!" Loki roared.

"Is this true?" Thor asked the guard.

"Nay, milord, I don't even know what a 'Sigrid' is!" The guard responded smugly.

"Then did you speak ill of Loki's daughter? This girl here?" Thor laid a hand on Sigrid's shoulder.

"Ah… I might have done that. Yes." The guard blushed now.

"Throw him to the wolves!" Loki seethed, "Not only has he done such a thing, but he has the audacity to brag about it!"

"By Odin's Beard, Loki, calm down or I will set Mjolnir on top of you and leave you here until the Yuletide feast!" Thor snapped and everyone was silent, "Thank you. Loki, what did he say that has offended you so?"

"He called Sigrid 'dirty' and suggested that she is a prisoner. How would you have me react to such blatant slander? By allowing such gossip?!"

"No one asked that of you, Loki, but you are already in enough trouble as it is. Must you cause more?" Thor sighed. He looked to the guard, "Why would you insult this young lady so harshly? Tell me your reasoning."

"My prince, I know you think of those Midgardians with the highest regards, but not all of us share that feeling. I don't understand why one of 'em was brought here - especially since she is the prisoner's brat - uh - daughter." The guard explained.

"If you know that she is the daughter of my brother then you also know that she is no ordinary Midgardian. She is my niece and I expect her to be treated with the respect of any Asgardian lady. Is that understood?"

"But…"

"Is that understood?"

"Yes, milord."

"Good. Now, I would recommend that you separate from our group for the time being and come back to work tomorrow." Thor clapped the man on the shoulder and then made his way to the palace. The guard bumped Sigrid on his way past her and muttered something under his breath.

"Wretch." He hissed.

Loki proudly watched as his daughter elbowed the man in the gut and whisper back: "Ingrate."

The group passed through to the palace and Thor was greeted heartily by Odin and Frigga, both of whom embraced their true son. Frigga's eyes purposefully stayed off of Loki, and he knew that he had made his mother ashamed of him. That was the only time he felt any remorse for his actions, when Frigga was too upset to even look at him. However, he noticed that the queen paid a good deal of attention to Sigrid.

"Thor," The woman finally said, "Who is this young lady you have brought to the palace?"

"Indeed Thor, who is this silly looking Midgardian?" Odin asked and Loki ground his teeth to keep from saying something that would get him flogged.

"May I introduce to you, Susan Mort, or as she will be known on Asgard: Sigrid Lokidaughter."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hi all! Thanks for all the reviews/favorites/follows, I hope this really long chapter satisfies for a while. :) Enjoy!**

There was an awkward moment of silence after Thor introduced Susan to his parents. They took a few seconds to fully register the name he'd given, and when they did Frigga and Odin exchanged worried glances. For a moment the queen stared right at Susan and the girl felt the urge to run away and hide, but then Frigga's glare turned on her dark haired son.

"Who is her mother?" She snapped.

Susan raised her hand timidly. "Hello, uh, my mom's name is Amy Mort, she's from Earth, uh, Midgard, and yeah… that's who my mom is." She finished lamely.

"Loki?" Odin turned to his adopted son with one raised eyebrow.

"I assume you recall that time, fifteen years ago, when I took a trip to Midgard and told you I'd fallen in love and wished to stay there forever? Well…" He gestured to Susan.

Frigga gasped. "I assumed that was just a silly crush you had! By Odin's beard, Loki!"

"My beard!" Odin agreed.

"If you had let me stay on Midgard back then this whole situation could have been avoided! Who knows, Thor might have never become unworthy even! I might have never known my true heritage and we could have been one big happy family!" Loki said sarcastically, "Truly brilliant parenting on your part."

"Hold your tongue, boy!" Odin snapped, "We must discuss what is to be done about the girl! We can't send her back to Midgard, after all."

"Why not?" Susan asked, "Send me back and all of your problems will be solved! Forget I ever existed! Wouldn't that be much more convenient for everyone?" She knew it was a long shot, considering as soon as she got to earth Nick Fury would either try and send her back or lock her up.

"Hush girl!" Frigga snapped, "Enough of your silly prattle! Thor, why have you brought this girl here? Did the Midgardian's not protest? What of the child's mother?"

"The director of SHIELD thought it would be best if she was sent off of Earth, all things considered. The the mother was greatly distressed of course, but I'm sure she is nothing to worry about."

"Thor! Do not speak like that! A mother worries the most and therefore should be worried about! Have you no common sense?" Frigga asked, "That poor woman, ripped away from her child!"

"And her fiance…" Loki muttered.

"You are her fiance?!" Odin asked.

"No, Amy was engaged to a human named Mack Quizzly, or something of the sort, and he got in the way of my attack. He's dead."

Susan punched her father in the arm. "His name is Max Quigley and he did not get in the way of your attack! You just flat out slit his throat!"

"Loki!" Frigga began to fan herself off, "How could you? I thought we raised you better than this! My word, I think I need to sit down."

A servant rushed out and set a chair down for the queen, which she gladly collapsed on. Loki rolled his eyes and Susan shot him a glare. Thor and Odin stood around rather awkwardly.

"Everyone calm down!" Odin finally said, "We need to decide what to do with the girl. Who shall care for her? Obviously her own father is incapable of such an action."

"I'd make a better father than you ever did." Loki snapped.

"This isn't about you, Loki, this is about what is best for your child, the poor thing." Frigga chided. She beckoned Susan closer and she obliged, "Dear, don't worry about anything, we will get this nasty business all sorted out."

"Mother, Father, why don't you raise her, here in the palace? I can think of no one better to care for her until she reaches adulthood." Thor suggested.

"Debatable." Loki whispered.

Odin and Frigga looked at each other and began whispering. Their hushed tones were so quiet Susan couldn't make out a word of what they were saying. Thor and Loki waited patiently, as if this was something they were used to, and Susan played with the fraying hem of her T-shirt. The king and queen glanced at her a few times and when that would happed their whispering would get a bit louder and angrier sounding. After a few minutes Odin straightened and looked Susan in the eye. She tried to look as friendly as possible and gave him a weak smile.

"We've reached a decision," He announced, "Sigrid Lokidaughter will, from this point forward, be raised as a ward of the royal family. Any who disagree with this decree may take it up with me, Odin the Allfather, King of Asgard, and Protector of the Nine Realms."

"You're sure you can't just send me back to Earth?" Susan sighed.

"No dear," Frigga smiled, "You'll be raised properly from this point forward."

"That's what I was afraid of."

"Allfather, might I make one request before I am sent off to the dungeons or wherever I end up?" Loki asked.

"What is it?"

"Allow me a moment with my daughter alone?"

"One minute." Odin agreed.

The royal family left Susan alone with Loki and one guard to watch him. Susan scooched a bit away from him. It was unnerving being left alone with him.

"Sigrid," Loki said slowly, "I know that you would rather be back on Midgard with your mother and your old life…"

Susan sniffled a little bit. "I've been trying not to think about it, but thank you so much for bringing it up again." She swiped at another irritating tear.

"But I believe this is where you belong." Loki finished.

"I'm as out of place as a pig at a posh party!" Susan scoffed, "You heard what that guard said back on the bridge, they don't want me here."

"Who cares what one guard says? You are going to grow up with the privileges of a princess. Forget that guard."

"Apparently you care a great deal about what that guard said because you just about killed him! You're being hypocritical, Loki."

"That is unimportant. Right now I need to say goodbye to you for a while. For a time I probably will not be allowed any visitors. If there is ever an emergency talk to my mother. She will get word to me." Loki stepped toward her and Susan stiffly patted his shoulder.

"See ya around, I guess." She said.

"Promise me that as soon as Odin allows it you'll visit me."

"Yeah, sure." She shrugged.

"Until next time." He smiled as Odin, Frigga, and Thor reentered the room. The guards lead Loki away and Susan wasn't sure if she was happy about that or not. Frigga alighted on Susan and began pulling her away.

"My dear, we must find you a place to sleep. I know the perfect chamber, it overlooks the gardens. I'm sure you can borrow a gown from one of the ladies around here until something more suitable can be made," Frigga sighed, "You know, it is every mother's dream to have a daughter someday and now I have you."

Odin and Thor watched the two women go and then went off to discuss Loki's fate.

Susan was lead to a grand bedroom. The walls were gold and the bed was huge. Sunlight streamed through the windows and shimmered everywhere. Susan set her little suitcase down on the giant mattress. Frigga regarded the little bag of luggage curiously.

"What is that?"

"Somethings from home." Susan opened the bag and took out her clothing. She approached the wardrobe and placed her clothes inside.

Frigga wrinkled her nose. "Midgardian's have such dull clothing," She commented, "Perhaps it would be better to just burn these things."

"No!" Susan snapped, "Uh, no ma'am. Please, those are some the last connections I have to Earth."

Frigga smiled warmly. "Of course, dear, I'm sorry for suggesting it," She looked at the clothes once more, "But please don't wear them around the palace - I will find you something more suited of your position."

"Yes ma'am."

"Call me Grandmother."

"Yes Grandmother." Susan smiled a little. Her maternal grandmother had died long before she was born so she had never called another that before. Her maternal grandfather only visited every once in a while so she didn't know him very well either.

"Tell me a bit about yourself, dear." Frigga sat down on the bed and patted the space next to her. Susan sat down.

"What would you like to know?"

"Before you met your father, what did you know about him?"

"A basic physical description. When I was little I imagined all kinds of things about what my father might be like. I thought he might be a secret agent, or a farmer, or a businessman, or something else. I must say that I'm a bit shocked with what he turned out to be."

"An Asgardian?"

"A monster." Susan said bitterly.

"Sigrid, he is not a monster. Some of his actions may seem monstrous, but he is just a man."

Susan winced. "Why do you all call me Sigrid? My name is Susan."

"Not in Asgard. Here you are to be known as Sigrid Lokidaughter."

"Ugh, do I really have to associate myself with him so closely?"

"It is the custom to have such surnames," Frigga snapped, "I know he has done some terrible things, but he is still my son and I will not hear you speak ill of him. You should feel privileged to be offered such an opportunity as this. You will live in a palace and be treated like royalty. What else could you ask for?"

"My mother." Susan said, growing impatient.

"It is terrible that you had to be separated from her, yes, but I believe it will all work out for the greater good. You are where you belong."

"How could you say that?" Susan asked incredulously. She shook her head and stood up, "This is the last place I would ever want to be!" She ran, without thinking, out the door and down the hall. Not knowing where she was going, Susan soon got lost. She finally leaned against a wall and sank to the floor, covering her face with her hands.

"You there!" Someone called, "What are you doing in the palace?"

Susan looked up to see a man in a guard's uniform. He glared down at her. She brushed back her hair and stared up at him. "Um, I'm a little lost."

"What are you doing in the palace in the first place? Are you a thief? A beggar? How did you get in?" The guard pryed.

"I'm not a beggar! And I'm certainly not a thief! I got into the palace because Thor brought me here." Susan responded angrily.

"Ha! The prince? What would he want with a filthy little thing like you?" The guard roughly grabbed her arm and hoisted her up onto her feet.

"I'm his niece! Just ask him and he'll tell you! I promise."

"Wouldn't want to bother His Highness on a day like today. He had to arrest his own brother. No, I will not be bothering the royal family with the likes of you, little tramp," He began harshly pulling her through the halls. He came to a set of stairs off in a discreet corner of the palace, "Until we get you sorted you'll have to stay down there. Oi, Ballard, one coming down!" The guard yelled down the stairs. Before Susan could fully comprehend what was happening he had shoved her down the stairs and she tumbled to the bottom. Another guard, Ballard, clamped her wrists in handcuffs and poked her with a spear.

"Ow hey! What was that for?" Susan hissed.

"Let's find you a cage, m'kay peachy?" Ballard nodded his head in agreement with himself, "This way, and no funny business." He poked her again with the spear and she got up. With a few more pokes she understood that she was supposed to go wherever Ballard directed her with the stick. They walked through a heavy set of doors and into a corridor lined with shimmering gold cells. From inside the cells Susan could see all kinds of scary looking creatures staring at her.

Ballard poked her past one cage, but slowed down a little to look into it. Susan didn't really want to see another weird alien so she kept her gaze lowered. Ballard the guard whistled.

"So it's true, they keepin' the ole prince o' tricks down here!"

"Go away." Loki's voice ordered calmly.

Susan snapped to attention. "Loki?"

"Sigrid?" Loki rose from the bench in his cell and put his hands on the shimmering gold wall, "What are you doing down here? In handcuffs? What's going on?"

"This little peachy here was loitering-nating around the palace and my buddy, Arno, picked her up to put down 'ere for a bit." Ballard answered, tugging at Susan's hair.

"Get your grubby hands off of her!" Loki snapped and for once Susan was glad of his presence, "Sigrid, how did you get in trouble so quickly?"

"I, uh…" She paused and retraced her steps mentally, "Well, I was talking with Frig- Grandmother and I got kind of angry. So I ran off and got a little lost. Then that guard yanked me down here. I don't know why he threw me down here though. I didn't do anything wrong."

"You," Loki said to Ballard the guard, "Why is this young lady down in the dungeons?"

"You'd 'ave to ask Arno 'bout it," Ballard said, "Now, this peachy needs to go in a cage," He scanned the area, "Hmm, no empty ones. You'll have to share, peachy."

"She can share with me," Loki suggested quickly, "Until you get everything sorted out."

"Nope. Allfather says you don't get a cellmate and you don't get visitors. Not fer a long time. But, I can put little peachy in the cage across from you." Ballard opened the golden wall in the cell across from Loki's just enough to push Susan through. The guard didn't even bother to take her shackles off, he just walked away whistling. Susan got onto her feet and stared wide-eyed at her cellmate. It was a large man with greasy red hair and beady yellow eyes. He eyed the girl before him suspiciously. Susan waved a little and then turned away from him to see Loki staring at her incredulously.

"Hey, what's up?" She said sheepishly.

"How could you get yourself locked in the dungeon?!"

"I told you how." Susan said.

Loki rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Your first day in Asgard and you are already locked up. We must get word to Thor somehow so that you can get out of there! Or Mother, or anyone! How could you be so stupid?"

"I was just minding my own business when that Arno character dragged me down here!" Susan put her shackled hands up in protest, "He thought I was a thief or something."

"Well dressed like that anyone could mistake you for a common criminal! You're an absolute mess. Until people know who you are I insist that you stay with my mother, or Thor, or Odin, or someone else who can vouch for you so that this won't happen again."

"And here I thought you wanted me to come visit you." Susan teased.

"But must you really have gotten yourself locked up to do it?"

Susan shrugged nonchalantly. "I wasn't trying to come see you, I was just minding my own business. The guards here sure are touchy."

Loki was about to respond with a scolding, but he noticed that his daughter's cellmate was taking a few steps in her direction. The filthy man shoved her against the clear-gold wall and Loki shouted angrily.

"Stop that!"

"Ow, hey!" Susan grumbled, "What do you want?"

"Got any money, little girl?" The man hissed at her, pinning her arm behind her back.

"Let her go!" Loki yelled, feeling helpless.

"Why would you want money?" Susan snorted, "It's not like you can use it from in here."

"Got my reasons, now gimme your money!" He tightened the hold on her wrist and Susan winced. She and her mother had once taken a self-defense class together, but pinned up against the wall she was having a hard time remembering what to do.

"I don't have any money," Susan answered calmly, thinking he might leave her alone, "Even if I did it would be Midgardian money, so pretty much useless to you."

The man loosened his grip a little and back up. "You're Midgardian?"

"Well, technically I'm half frost giant," She gestured with her chin to Loki, "Or whatever the heck he is, but I'm from Earth, born and raised."

The man dropped her quickly and backed off as if she had some sort of disease. "Part Jotun and part Midgardian? Disgusting!"

Loki worriedly met her eyes and she winked, giving no relief whatsoever. "Yeah, I know. I'm infectious too. You see, two months ago I had the Pox of Chickens…" She lowered her voice threateningly, "And I heard it's very contagious."

"Pox of Chickens? What does that do?"

"If you don't have a very specific type of DNA it'll turn you into chicken, why else would we call it such a silly name?"

"What kinda DNA do you need to survive?" Her cellmate asked suspiciously.

"Why, Jotun DNA of course!" Susan raised her eyebrows, "I thought that much was obvious. That's why my father over their hasn't been chicken-ified yet. But you should have seen those Chitauri go! Bock, bock bock!" Susan mimicked a chicken noise and tucked her hands into her armpits like wings, "Just like that! You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because once a frost giant gets the Pox of Chickens they have the power to turn anyone they touch into a chicken - poof! Kentucky Fried Asgardian!" She examined her fingers carefully, "Now you seem like a decent enough fellow, if in need of a bath, I wouldn't want anything _un-clucky_ to happen to you."

Loki suppressed a chuckle as he watched her step closer to the other prisoner, extending her finger slightly. Her cellmate backed away and put his hands up in a peaceable manner.

"Sorry, sorry! I won't ever go near ya again, I promise!"

Susan retracted her hand and gave him a dastardly smirk. "Good, otherwise you might find yourself in the awkward position of being the main course at the next royal banquet."

The man sat down on his bench and turned away from her, trying to pretend like she'd never been tossed into his cell. Loki crossed his arms in amusement as she turned to face him.

"What are you laughing at buster?" She asked, "You wanna be a chicken?"

"I thought Jotun could not become chickens." Loki commented.

"Okay, but I never told you about that time I got Swine Flu. It turns everyone but Midgardians into pigs," She raised an eyebrow, "How'd you like to spend the rest of your life oinking?"

"Point taken," Loki smiled wryly, "Your biological warfare has me beaten."

"That's what I thought." Susan smiled and sat down on the floor of the cell.

The pair smiled at each other for a moment, but Loki stopped and sighed heavily.

"Sigrid, how are we going to get you out of here? Who knows when anyone with any power will visit? You could be down here for days! Weeks even!"

"We can't just ask to speak with Thor?"

"I could try, but I would assume he won't be speaking with me for sometime," Loki ran a hand through his hair, "And no one down here knows who you are so they won't do anything if you ask."

"Prison break?" Susan asked sarcastically.

"Not yet…" Loki smirked, "Not until the perfect moment."

Susan's eyes widened. "You're planning…"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," He shrugged, "Anyway, we need to find a way to let the guards know that you are the Allfather's ward. They will release you if they know that."

"They won't believe me, to them I'm just a ratty beggar," Susan humphed, "And you are the 'fallen son of Asgard'."

"This is true, but perhaps my word will carry some weight. I was once a prince, and perhaps not all opinions of me have been soiled by my actions on Midgard." As Loki said this a guard, though not Ballard, passed by the cells.

"Quiet in here! The only noise I should be hearing is your cry of anguish," The guard snapped at no one in particular. He glanced at Susan, sitting in the large cage and scowled, "What crime did a little girl commit to get locked in the high security dungeon?"

"I've been told the only one who knows the answer to that is a guy named Arno," Susan answered and then winced, "Oh, sorry, I forgot you only want to hear cries of anguish," She cleared her throat and moaned, "Woe is me!"

"Arno locked you up in here, child?"

"No, he threw me down the stairs, Ballard locked me up."

"Guard," Loki called, "Might I provide some insightful information?"

The guard gave Loki the dirtiest look Susan had ever seen. "Spit it out, Trickster."

"If you're going to be rude…" Loki mocked, turning away slightly.

"Tell me or I'll convince Odin the best thing to rehabilitate his treacherous son is a hundred floggings."

"This girl here," Loki gestured to Susan, "Was lost in the palace when a guard arrested her. He had no cause for such an action."

"What was such a filthy little girl be doing in the palace?"

"Believe it or not, she is the ward of the king." Loki sniffed arrogantly.

"Her? This beat up little scrap? Ward of the king?" The guard gave a hollow laugh, "What happened Laufeyson? Did you lose all of your trickery on Midgard? That is the most pathetic lie I've ever heard."

Susan jumped in. "It's true! I just wandered away and got lost and then I got jailed."

"The king doesn't have a ward."

"He does as of earlier today," Susan declared, "I came from Midgard with my uncle, Thor, and Odin said that I was to be raised as his ward."

"Thor's niece? Oh this tale just keeps getting better and better! Say," The guard's eyes lit up like he had thought of a particularly humorous joke, "That would make this would-be-king your father, would it not?"

"Well, yeah, that's kind of how this kind of thing works." Susan said.

"Then I think you have found your way to the right place after all. If Loki did have a child this would be the perfect place to keep it." The guard told her, walking off.

"That could have gone better." Susan noted.

"Immensely." Loki grumbled.

"I guess we better start brainstorming some other ideas to get me out of here, huh?" Susan groaned, "I have spent far too much time around prison cells this week. First on the Helicarrier, then in Stark Tower, and now here! People sure like putting you in cages."

"They only cage what they can't control."

Susan wrinkled her nose. "And apparently you only brainwash what you can't control."

Loki smirked. "No, that was just the easiest option at the time. I had perfect control over you before I used the scepter."

"Oh really? Because I recall that I was about to leave the building."

"You would have never made it out the front doors. I had men stationed everywhere and with one message over the radio you would have been captured."

Susan adopted a snobbish voice in attempt to mimic her father. "Ah, then what would you have done? Put me in a cage? For as you so eloquently stated: they only cage what they can't control. Thus proving my point that you had no control over my actions."

"You sound ridiculous."

"I know," Susan grinned, "Anyway, back to our planning. Thoughts?"

Loki didn't get the chance to answer because they heard a loud commotion from the end of the hall. The guard who had just spoken to them marched in front of Susan's cell and raised an eyebrow at her. He glanced behind him hesitantly and snapped his fingers. Loki was surprised to see the guard use magic. Odin never allowed for any magician to hold such a low position. Magicians and sorcerers worked to help people or they were nobles. To see such a lowly worker with magical abilities was unheard of. Yet when this guard snapped his fingers Susan was glamoured to look like another criminal. Her hair became short, bright red, and spiky and she shrank a little, her eyes became a burning crimson and her skin became a little darker colored.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked suspiciously.

"Keep your mouth shut, Trickster," The guard ordered, "Or you'll get the flogging of your life."

"Eilif!" Someone shouted and the guard grimaced, "Where are you?"

"Over here Your Highness," The guard, Eilif, answered, "In front of the fallen prince's cell."

Thor rounded the corner and avoided meeting Loki's eyes. "Captain Eilif, we must discuss a matter of great import."

"Yes?" Eilif glanced at Susan in her disguise. She glared back at him. She'd realized that he'd covered her up with magic so that Thor wouldn't recognize her. Loki was coming to realize the same thing and he narrowed his eyes in anger.

Thor glanced at Loki. "The king's ward has vanished." Thor was expecting his brother to lash out angrily, but Loki did no such thing.

"The king's ward?" Eilif asked.

"Lady Sigrid Lokidaughter," Thor affirmed, "She ran off a little while back and we can't seem to find her. The Allfather instructed me to search every inch of the palace - including the dungeons."

"Physical appearance?"

"Tall, redish-brown hair, blue eyes… Looks a bit like her father. She is wearing Midgardian clothing." Thor answered.

"I shall keep my eyes peeled, milord." Eilif answered smoothly and Loki felt like strangling him.

"Thor!" Loki called.

"Loki, I promise no harm will come to Sigrid, do not grow panicked." Thor assured.

"I know that no harm will come to her for I am looking right at her." Loki answered simply, not caring that Captain Eilif was glaring at him.

"What?" Thor turned to look at the cell across from Loki's and saw a woman who looked nothing like Susan. This woman had obviously been an assassin of some sort, or something else terrible.

"Hey Thor!" The woman said, sounding nothing like Susan, "I might look kinda funny, but I promise that…"

"What kind of trick is this?" Thor asked, looking to Loki, "Where is Sigrid?"

"That guard captain used magic to glamour her," Loki answered, "If you let me out of this cage I could take the glamour off and you'd see."

"You are not coming out of the cage. Guards cannot perform magic, Loki. I am surprised you would be lying about such a serious matter. Your _daughter_ is missing."

"No Thor, she is right in front of you!" Loki attempted to use his magic through the cage wall to uncover Susan, but the anti-magic walls were too strong. Her guise flickered for only a moment, but Thor wasn't looking.

"I don't know what kind of lunacy this is, Loki, but I must return to my search." Thor turned to go, but Susan banged her fist on the cell.

"Wait, Thor get me out of here! Come on, I know Loki lies a lot, but this time he's telling the truth!" She yelled after the retreating figure of the prince. Once he was gone she angrily kicked the wall, "Why did you do that?!" She asked Eilif.

"So you weren't lying," The guard smirked, "Go figure."

"If you want to keep your life I suggest you retrieve Thor and unglamour my daughter." Loki hissed.

"And admit that I was purposefully hiding the king's ward? That through my error she ended up in the dungeons? I don't think so," Eilif opened the cage Susan was in and let her out, removing the disguise. She attempted to hit him, but he caught her shackled hands, "Naughty, naughty! That's no way to treat a person."

"Let me go! You can't keep me down here forever! Thor will figure it out eventually."

"Will he?" Eilif asked, "Our crown prince isn't exactly known for his brain power."

Loki, though he agreed with this statement, pounded his cage wall angrily. "Release her!"

"Oh, I will… eventually," Eilif smirked, "When the royal family starts to get really worried I'll come to the rescue with their missing little girl. I assume you've realised what I'm getting after here."

"You want a reward of some sort." Loki growled.

"But I'll tell them what you did!" Susan pointed out, "You'd better just let me go now and maybe they'll be more forgiving toward you."

"Oh I have it all planned out, don't worry your pretty little head about it. In the meantime I think it would be best if you were farther away from your dear papa. I wouldn't want you planning anything together." With that Eilif dragged Susan down to a dark, empty cell at the very end of the hall. There she would await her fate.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long you guys! I had some writer's block but it's mostly cleared up now so hopefully I'll be updating more frequently now, but no promises. This chapter is kind of weird... I don't even know where the troll came from. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! :) Don't forget to favorite/follow/review!**

Susan was alone in her cell, but right next to her new living quarters there was a rather large looking creature that she had deemed a troll. The girl was a little bit on edge, a little bit grumpy, a little bit freaked out, and a lot home sick. When she had been picked up by that guard and thrown down into the dungeon she had too much going on to think about home and why she had run out on Frigga in the first place. Now that she had some time to think she felt an ache in her heart for the life she'd left on Earth. Everything was happening too quickly. She just found out about her father, then she was thrown into craziness with superheroes and aliens, then she's sent off to another planet! It was too much for her and all she could do to cope with it was curl up in a ball on the cot in her cell and let the tears fall.

Susan didn't make a noise as she wept, she was afraid someone would come along and try to manipulate her. The teenager's heart had been battered, controlled, and broken over the last few days and she didn't know if she could stand it if someone else tried to ply her heart for their own purposes. It was bad enough that her own father did it, but if others came along and tried as well she knew that she would crumble. So, she kept quiet and let the warm tears puddle on her cheeks.

"You bad?" The troll creature asked from the neighboring cell.

Susan sniffled a little. "I am doing pretty badly, yes."

The troll was silent for a moment and then shuffled closer to her cell. He put a long claw on the shimmering wall. "Who you?"

"Um, Susan." She grumbled, rolling over so she wasn't facing her fellow prisoner any more.

"Maalik." He grunted back.

Susan really didn't feel like having a conversation with the big hairy thing so she didn't answer. Why would a criminal troll want to talk with her anyway? Did he want money too? Would the chicken pox trick work on such a creature? He couldn't get through the cell wall so she probably wouldn't have to find out. She hoped anyway.

"Why you here?" Maalik the troll asked

"Dunno."

"I ate Allfather's pony."

Susan rolled over and propped herself up on her elbow. She looked in his eye (for he only had one). "You ate a pony?"

"I hungry! Pony sit there, I eat." Maalik protested.

"You don't just go around eating people's pets!" Susan scolded, thinking that was probably one of the strangest phrases she'd ever said.

"Allfather kill anyway."

"He was gonna kill the pony for no reason?"

"Pony sick."

"Oh, then I guess it wasn't so bad, but still, Maalik, you shouldn't eat other people's stuff."

"I bad."

"Well you are in prison, so I don't know what I expected." Susan sat up and leaned against the wall behind her.

"You good?"

"Well, I shouldn't be here if that's what you mean, but I'm not necessarily 'good'," Susan sighed, "After all, nobody's perfect."

"You good." Maalik affirmed.

"Thanks." Susan smiled a little. Maybe prison wouldn't be so awful after all.

Right as she was thinking that things weren't too terrible, things became quite grim. Eilif appeared in front of Susan's cell with a broad grin on his face. The girl immediately frowned. The only nice thing that had come from this guy was that he took those irritating handcuffs off of her wrists. Besides that he had done nothing good.

"Getting all comfy-cozy, Lokidaughter?" The guard captain asked, hands clasped together. He rocked on the heels of his boots and smirked up at her.

"Go away, stupid-head." She spat.

"You've got quite the fowl mouth don't you?" He teased, "But I haven't come to exchange insults with you, I came to have a little chat."

"I don't feel much like talking."

"That's fine, all you need to do is listen," Eilif opened the cell and stepped inside, sitting in a chair across from her, "I suppose you think I must be very evil for keeping you here, however you have no idea what true evil even looks like. A young, naive girl such as yourself couldn't possibly hope to understand the darkness in our universe…"

"I don't think you're evil, and I already know what darkness looks like," Susan answered, "Loki murdered my step-father three feet in front of me, he tried to take over my home planet, and he took me away from my mother."

Eilif gave her a curious look. "You despise your father, don't you?"

"For the most part."

"Then it may be hard for you to understand things from my perspective - for I loved my father. You see, when I was at the tender age of five hundred Odin commissioned one of the greatest magicians in Asgard, my father, to create a barrier spell in case the palace was ever attacked. My father created the spell and it worked wonderfully, but Odin was not pleased with it. He thought that the spell needed to be stronger and ordered my father to go and find a dangerous type of magic to incorporate into the barrier. My father obtained this magic, but while he was infusing it with the rest of the shield there was a burst of flame from the magic and it consumed my father. Odin didn't even care about what had happened, he simply hired a new magician. My mother, siblings, and I didn't even find out that Father had died until a week later when a baker found out about it and told us. Mother had no money and begged Odin for some sort of payment for the work my father had done, but the only payment we got was that my brothers and I were drafted into the military."

Susan listened, and found herself pitying the man. "So why are you telling me this? It's not like I could do anything to change the past."

"Odin's family has been sitting on the throne of Asgard for far too long. He has made poor choices and Prince Thor will no doubt make even worse ones with his obsession with Midgard. What Asgard needs is someone who will understand the needs of the people."

"And what? You're going to take over to get revenge?"

"Not immediately, but perhaps someday. Right now I just need influence and you, my dear, are going to give it to me."

Susan gave him a wary look. "What do you mean?"

"Not only will I be getting a handsome sum of money for your safe return, I will be getting a puppet with political leverage. When you do leave the dungeon you will do my bidding in Odin's court and drop a few ideas - my ideas."

"I'm not going to do that for you!" Susan snorted.

Eilif grinned. "But you'll have to. I was planning on punishing your father if you stepped out of line, but now that I know how you feel about him I think I'll turn my attention to someone else. I have an associate on Midgard who would be more than happy to find your mother."

"Leave my mother out of this!"

"I'll leave her out if you do exactly as I say. Promise me that you will and no harm shall come to her. Deal?"

Susan wrung her hands and nodded. "Okay, just don't hurt her."

"Just don't step out of line, dear."`

* * *

Loki had conjured a toy ball into his hand and was impatiently bouncing it against the cell wall. How could he have let this happen? Who was Eilif? Was Sigrid in good care? Why hadn't he tried harder to get Thor's attention?

With each thought he threw the ball harder and harder. Finally it built up so much force that he couldn't even catch it without hurting his hand. He dropped the ball and simply let out his frustration with a scream. The other prison-dwellers gave him fearful looks, but when he glared at them they turned away hastily.

"Temper, temper." A voice snickered from outside of the cell. Eilif.

"Why don't you come in here and let me show just how powerful my temper can be?" Loki sneered back.

"I don't wish to fight you, Laufeyson, we have a common goal."

"And what is that?"

"To remove Odin from the throne." Eilif whispered merrily. Loki gave him a skeptical look and crossed his arms.

"My goal is to put myself on the throne, I would not share it with you."

"Nor I with you," Eilif agreed, "But out of the two of us I am the one outside the prison cell and I am the one who is controlling your daughter."

Loki took a menacing step closer to the cell wall and ground his teeth angrily. How dare this peasant threaten Sigrid? How dare he strut in here as if he could do as he pleased?

"Watch yourself," Loki warned, "Someday our positions will be reversed and you'll find that I'm not so pleasant when I'm on the other side of the bars."

Eilif only smiled. "I'm positively quaking in my boots." With that the infuriating guard sashayed away as if he didn't have a care in the world. Loki screamed again.

* * *

Thor had searched all of the palace and turned up no traces of Sigrid. Not knowing what else to do, the thunderer approached Heimdall to ask of the girl's location. The Gatekeeper nodded at the prince.

"You seek your niece, my prince?"

"Where is she?"

Heimdall paused for a moment and then frowned. "Someone has hidden her from my vision, but the last time I saw her she was in the dungeon near the fallen prince."

"Hidden from your vision? How?!" Thor exclaimed.

"Some magicians are talented enough…" Heimdall explained.

"Loki?"

"I know not."

Without stopping for further discussion the prince flew back to the dungeons and stormed through the many cells. The captain of the guard jumped to attention, saluted, and then ran off with a somewhat guilty expression on his face. Thor cared little. He found his way to his brother's cell and banged on the wall.

Loki was angrily clutching a book in his hands, but it didn't seem as if he was focusing on it very well. The dark brother looked up and glared, then he noticed Thor and dropped his book.

"Thor! You must listen to me, Sigrid is in the dungeons! I'm not sure which cell, but she is down here somewhere! Believe me, in all my life I have never been more truthful."

Thor only glared in response.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Loki noted.

"What cause have I to believe anything you say?" Thor bellowed, "Heimdall has told me that a magician has hidden Sigrid from even his gaze. I may not have your sharp wit, Loki, but I can put two and two together. Who else would have motive to hide the girl?"

Loki scowled. "And what, pray tell, is my motive? Where would I even hide her? If you haven't noticed I am locked in prison."

"Stop denying it and just tell me where she is."

"I only know that she is in the dungeon."

"Are you resentful that she is to be raised by Father? Is that why you have hidden her from us?" Thor asked, "Are you simply doing this because of what happened on Midgard? Is this some sort of petty revenge?"

"No Thor, it is not I who has clouded Heimdall's vision. The guard, Eilif, plans to use her to gain wealth. Search the prison, he has locked her in some dark corner."

"I wish I could believe you. I wish it wasn't obvious that you did this, brother. At least tell me why!" Thor requested.

"She is my daughter Thor! I want her found as much as you do. Stop being an oaf and go find her!"

"That would be much easier if you would tell me where she is!"

"I don't know!"

"Milord!" Eilif called, entering the room

"What?!" Both brothers snapped.

"I have uncovered the girl's hiding place. It would seem that she was glamoured and then locked in a cell. Only a powerful magician could have managed this," The guard informed them, stepping aside to reveal Sigrid, "Here she is."

The girl darted a quick look at the guard who had found her and then rushed to Thor, embracing him. The prince froze in surprise and then hugged her back. He glared at Loki, but decided this argument could wait for another day. The queen was distressed at the loss of her granddaughter and the king was annoyed at the loss of his ward.

Loki looked expectantly at his offspring and Thor assumed he was waiting for Sigrid to reveal where she had been and who had put her there. When the girl stopped hugging her uncle she gave Eilif a wary look. The guard nodded and Sigrid turned back to Thor.

"I'm sorry I wandered off…" She started, "But it felt like something was pulling me down here and once I was down here Loki cast an illusion on me and a guard thought I was a criminal and locked me up. Then this kind guard found me and realized I wasn't where I was supposed to be."

Loki gave her a wide eyed stare as if he couldn't believe the words she was saying. Thor growled at his brother and put a protective arm around the girl.

"Well, now we have a witness. I'm sure Father will want to punish you for this, Loki, but right now I must return Sigrid to the place where she belongs."

"Sigrid, why are you lying so?" Loki asked in shock. The girl didn't even look at him.

"Guard Eilif, you will be rewarded greatly and you may have the rest of the evening off. Thank you."

Thor steered the girl away from the dreary dungeon and up a set of stairs. Before they left Sigrid darted one quick look at her father and Thor could have sworn there was a glint of guilt in her eyes - but perhaps it was just a trick of the light.


	15. Chapter 15

Frigga flung herself at Susan as soon as the girl walked into the throne room where her new guardians were waiting for her. The grandmother embraced Susan tightly and the girl noticed that she smelled a lot like roses.

"Child, where were you? We were so worried!" Frigga looked over the girl and clucked her tongue, "We really must find you some clothes befitting your rank, and get you cleaned up."

"Father," Thor said, "I found Sigrid in the dungeons. She was trapped by way of Loki's trickery and hidden from Heimdall."

Odin glanced haughtily at his ward. "Is this true, girl? Did the criminal Loki hide you away?"

Susan desperately wanted to tell the truth about Eilif and his plans to usurp Odin's throne. She didn't particularly care about clearing her father's name as much as making sure the corrupt guard was punished, but said guard had threatened her mother she even alluded to the fact that he was up to no good. So she lied her heart out. If her deceitful stories didn't blacken Loki's name nothing would - though he really didn't need much help in tearing apart his reputation.

When her fictitious seeds had been planted she looked at her guardians. Odin and Thor didn't seem surprised, but Frigga looked distraught. Susan finished her tale with relating how Eilif had "found" her and saved her from the prison.

"This guard shall be rewarded," Odin nodded, "And Loki shall be punished."

Susan nodded nervously and wrung her hands. "Yup. Great."

Frigga wrapped an arm around the girl and began pulling her out of the room. "For now you must have some rest," The queen sniffed, "And perhaps a bath."

* * *

Despite the lies that had been told and the distortion Eilif was concocting, Loki was glad that Sigrid had managed to get out of the dungeon. As much as he wanted to see her, he certainly didn't want her to be locked up amongst all these detestable people.

The fallen prince was lost in his thoughts when the fraudulent captain of the guard arrived and banged on the cell. Loki stirred and gave his most depreciative glower to the other man. The held one another's glares for a moment before Eilif broke the silence with a chuckle.

"The prince told me I ought to take the night off, but since you have yet to be punished I simply _had_ to stick around. Thor agreed that is was only fair that I would get to administer the flogging myself, seeing as I am the hero of the hour."

"What are your plans for Sigrid?" Loki asked. On any other day he would wheedle his way out of the flogging by using his silvertongue to influence this guard, but with his daughter on the line he had a lot more to worry about than a few lashings.

"She's such a nice girl," Eilif commented, "Pretty little thing too. Do you know how old she is?"

Loki gritt his teeth and tried to keep down a scream of agitation. "Tell me your plans for my daughter."

"Tell me how old she is and I'll take off a few of the lashings you're going to get."

"Fifteen," Loki snapped, "Sixteen in the Midgardian summer."

"Hmm," Eilif nodded, "In anycase, my plans for her are really no concern of yours Trickster. After that terrible thing you did - hiding the king's ward! - you'll probably be banned from visitors until her lifespan has long passed - unless she inherited a bit of your long life expectancy."

Loki clenched his fists. "If I have no visitors, and since no one believes me anyway, then why not give me a clue of sorts," He forced an oily smile, "To amuse me in my long sentence."

"A clue?" Eilif grinned, "I do enjoy a good game. Here's your clue: remember Vali."

"Vali?" Loki asked, confused, "Wasn't he a nobleman?"

"You think about it," Eilif beamed again, "Perhaps a few floggings will pound the meaning into your head. Let's get started, shall we?"

Loki groaned and allowed for his wrists to be shackled. He was lead to a post in the middle of a darkening courtyard and he was bound to it. A moment later the flogging began. It was painful, to say the least, but Loki barely noticed. He was focused on remembering everything he knew about Lord Vali.

From what Loki could recall, Vali had always been an odd member of the court. He was dark and brooding, never speaking to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. He was fierce warrior and Loki had never liked him. There was a time when two of Odin's relatives were visiting, Hodr and Baldr, and if memory served Baldr was almost invincible with the odd weakness of mistletoe. During their visit Hodr slayed his brother and Odin had hired Vali to get revenge. Loki regretfully remembered that he was the one who overheard of Baldr's weakness and informed Hodr because he thought it would make a funny trick. No one ever found out about Loki's part in the murder.

Was Eilif some friend of Baldr's? Did he want to get Loki back for the trick he'd played? But how had he known it was the former prince? And if avenging Baldr's was what Eilif was after then why had he mentioned Vali? Vali had very little to do with that time exception for when he got revenge.

The guard dealt out a particularly painful lash of the whip and Loki yelped. Then a thought struck him. Revenge. The Midgardians had taken to calling Vali the god of revenge. What if this had nothing to do with anything personally related to Vali? What if Eilif had simply been stating his plans were those of revenge? But on whom? And for what? More importantly, why did the brute need Sigrid for his plans?

"Getting tired yet, Trickster?" Eilif asked, snapping the whip again.

"No matter how I choose to answer that question you will opt to give me more lashes, so I'd prefer to make no comment." Loki ground out, hissing at another hit.

"You are a clever one, aren't you?" Eilif finally coiled up the whip, "However, Odin only ordered ten for the day and I've just given you twenty, so we'd best stop."

"What about reducing my lashes for giving you Sigrid's age?" Loki asked as he was lead back to his cell. His back was sticky with blood and every movement made him wince.

"I did! I was planning on giving you thirty lashes!" Eilif laughed, shoving Loki into the cell and closing the door, "Did you figure out my clue?" His eyes gleamed with the anticipation of a good game and Loki quickly asserted to use this to his own benefit. So the guard was fond of contests? Then let the games begin.

"You want revenge. Really, Eilif that clue was too simple."

The guard's eyes darkened briefly, but he regained his smile as another clue hit him. "Okay then, here is my next clue - your last until tomorrow."

Loki gestured for him to continue. "I'm listening."

"Ring," Eilif chirped and then sashayed away, "I shall see you in the morning, Trickster."

"Vile thing," Loki muttered under his breath, "And they call _me_ a villain!"

* * *

Susan had never been one for girly things like shopping and skirts, but every girl likes to dress up once in a while and she was no different. Frigga had found some gowns for her and Susan was gaping at herself in the mirror. The long light green dress was lovely - and so comfortable. The jewels and other adornments were a bit much, but she didn't mind terribly.

"You look lovely, Sigrid," Frigga smiled warmly, "How does it fit?"

"Good."

"_Well_, not good."

"Err, right. It fits well. Could I possible take off this necklace thing, though? It's kind of heavy and I'd really like to wear my own necklace." Susan picked up the blue bird jewelry Max had given her and tried to unfasten the large, chain mail like necklace around her throat. Frigga lifted the girl's auburn hair and took off the necklace for her.

"I don't see why not. That little bird matches your eye color perfectly; where did you get it?"

"My stepfather gave it to me," Susan's voice hitched, "Before he, uh, passed."

Frigga's eyes softened. "You have lost a great deal in a short amount of time. We never stopped to ask how you feel about this, did we?"

Susan rubbed away her pooling tears. "It's just a lot to handle in less than a week."

"I know you have lost much, Sigrid, but think also of what you have gained. I know we can never replace your mother on Midgard, but you now have a father, an uncle, a grandfather, and myself."

Susan nodded, her eyes still wet. "I know."

"I suppose we are a poor substitute for the life you left behind."

"No, no!" Susan assured, "It's just going to take some getting used to is all."

"I am confident you will thrive here, child. Soon the aches will dull and maybe someday you'll feel at home." Frigga wiped away one last tear from Susan's eye.

"Thank you, Grandmother." The girl smiled slowly and the pair left the room.

Odin had decided to hold a feast in Susan's honor, though he wasn't quite as excited as his wife to have the girl there. Susan was a bit overwhelmed when she walked into the dining hall and hundreds of eyes watched her every move. Thor rose from his seat with a smile on his face and linked his arm with hers, leading her to a seat. Odin rose and addressed his people.

"Friends!" He boomed, "We've gathered today to celebrate the arrival of my ward, Lady Sigrid Lokidaughter of Midgard," There were a few grumbles of disapproval at her surname and Susan grimaced, but Odin continued, "I trust you will welcome her warmly a cherish her as my family does. Now let us begin our feast!" The nobles dug into their food with such relish Susan wondered if Asgard had any kind of table manners or if it was just a free-for-all gorge. She stared at the food on her plate and wonder what kind of meat it was and if those vegetables were really blue and orange or if they had been dyed that way.

As she was picking at her food she didn't notice someone slide into the seat next to her until the person spoke.

"I trust you have been keeping out of trouble since your adventure earlier?" A kind, yet oddly frightening voice said. Susan snapped up from looking at her food and met the gaze of Eilif. He was beaming at her and gestured to her food, "I suggest you try the Slottsstek, it's divine."

"Captain Eilif! I am glad to see you could make it!" Thor boomed from next to Susan.

"I wouldn't miss it for the nine realms!" Eilif smiled, "I had to make sure our guest of honor was getting on alright after her eventful day." He elbowed her playfully and Susan thought she might be sick all over her plate of Slottsstek.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Thank you for attending!" Thor smiled and then turned to talk with a round man with a huge red beard.

Eilif put his mouth close to Susan's ear and she tried to jerk away but he grabbed her wrist. "Remember, we are to be great friends - start acting chummy, Lokidaughter."

She gave her best smile and laughed as if he had just told her a joke, but on the inside she felt as if someone was squeezing her heart. More manipulation. More threats. More villainous scum.

"Oh Captain, you are so funny!" Susan forced out. Eilif gave her a crooked grin and she tried to keep from frowning or trembling. This man was threatening her mother if Susan didn't do what he wanted her to. Her hands shook as that thought crossed her mind and she could barely lift her fork.

"I try, milady, I try." Eilif wrapped his arm around her shoulders, but quickly dropped it when Odin gave him a slightly disapproving scowl.

The king stood from his chair. "I have one more announcement to make, my people. The guard, Eilif, merits a reward. If it were not for this man we would not be having this dinner tonight. The criminal, Loki, hid away my ward by use of magic, though for what purpose we have yet to uncover. She would have not been found had it not been for the cunning of Eilif," A few nobles cheered and Susan tried to look grateful, "For his services to the crown we will reward him with a large bonus in his pay and one request of the royal family," Odin smiled jokingly, "Within reason."

Susan couldn't hide her grimace this time. She wondered what he would ask for. Would he try to get her into the official meetings and other things like that so that he could use her to influence the government? Would he ask for something else to further his nefarious plots? Or would he simply request more money? The anticipation made her nervous and she found herself anxiously twirling the bird necklace around her fingers. Eilif rose to speak.

* * *

Loki lay on his cot and thought about the second clue the guard had given him. The conversation they'd had earlier kept replaying in his head, though he didn't know why.

"_She's such a nice girl," _The guard had said, "_Pretty little thing too."_

Loki didn't know why the words bothered him so and why he couldn't stop combining them with the clue Eilif had given him. He growled as the conversation replayed in his head again and then sat up and forced himself to think.

"Ring," He muttered, "Ring? Ring. What kind of ring? The noise? Or did he say 'wring'? Is he planning to kill someone?" A nearby prisoner yelled at him to be quiet but Loki paid him no mind, "Ring… a bell?"

"Hey ding-a-ling-ring! Shut up!" A prisoner snarled, "Or I'll come over there and wring your neck with a ring of rope!" Loki rolled his eyes at the mocking and then froze.

"Ring… jewelry?" He gripped the edge of his cot, "No… it couldn't be."

The conversation rolled through his head again. _Such a nice girl_, _pretty little thing too_. But that was ridiculous, surely not! It did offer political power though, and a chance at revenge.

"I'll make that blackguard pay if he thinks he can get away with that." Loki growled, getting up and pounding on the cell wall.

* * *

Susan watched the guard give her a charming smile and then turn to her new guardians and give them the same glowing grin. He clasped his hands together and gave a brief glance to the audience gathered around.

"A most gracious offer, All-Father," Eilif said cooly, "But I can think of only one request and I pray that you will find it to be within reason."

"Speak your wish." Odin nodded. Susan held her breath.

"With your permission I would like to court Lady Sigrid."

* * *

A guard shuffled down to Loki's cell and gave him the stink-eye. Loki returned the favor and banged on the wall once more.

"Wha d'ya want?"

"I must speak with the king immediately! Or Thor, or the queen, or anyone who will listen! It is a matter of great importance." Loki shouted, causing several other prisoners to stir grumpily.

"The royal family's busy wit da feast. Ye can ask after 'em tomorrow."

Loki snarled at the guard and mustered as much magic as he could. "Listen to me, you sniveling worm, this matter regards my daughter. Surely you can understand that I need to speak with _someone_."

The guard raised an eyebrow. "Yer daughter is the kit the king is watching over, ain't she?"

"Yes." Loki was prepared to try and knock down the cell wall by use of magic or muscle.

"Y'know wha I just 'eard? Our captain of the guard fancies her. He told us he were gonna ask ta court her for his reward. I meself wouldn't want such a mutt - half Midgardian I hear - but Eilif has taken a shining to the kit. No offense meant by the mutt comment, by the way." The guard laughed.

Loki heard the word "court" and all else went blank. He let out a torrent of magic that was just strong enough and powered by enough emotion to create a small tear in the cell wall. The trickster shot his hand through the hole and grabbed the guard's throat. The man looked much less jovial now and more prepared to beg for mercy.

"Get this wall down and let me out. I must speak with the king!" Loki hissed and the guard nodded, using his key. The golden barrier fell and Loki stepped out, rushing past the quivering guard and disabling as many other guards as he could.

When Eilif had said "ring" he had most definitely meant the jewelry kind. Or, more specifically, the wedding kind.

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading and for all of the reviews you left on the last chapter! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. I think I'm finally getting a solid plot together (wonder of wonders) and hopefully I'll be updating weekly.**

**On a side note, the story about Vali, Baldr, and Hodr is an actual Norse myth and you should really look it up because it's pretty interesting. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my twist on it.**

**Thanks again! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Been a while hasn't it? Sorry about the long wait, and thank you for the reviews/follows/favorites! I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)**

Susan felt the world begin to spin and clutched her head tiredly. Had Eilif just asked to date her or was that her imagination? Why would he want to court _her_? Didn't all of the Asgardians think she was disgusting? And this was just her first day in Asgard! Couldn't he have waited for her to get settled in a bit?

"That is an interesting request," Odin commented, "What has provoked it?"

"In the short time that I have known her I have found Lady Sigrid to be of great integrity and filled with beauty - both in her appearance and her actions. I realize that because Midgardians age differently than we do it seems there is a considerable age difference between us, but by my reasoning I am of the same maturity as an eighteen year old Midgardian." Eilif answered.

"You speak highly of her, yet even I do not know what her true temperament is, for she has been in our realm less than a day. Are you certain you would like to court her so early into her time here?" Odin glanced at Susan and she gave him a grateful look, trying her hardest to convey that she would not like to have anything to do with this guard.

Eilif gripped his sword hilt nervously and Susan could tell he was debating whether to attempt to move the plan forward more quickly or to act proper and wait a fair amount of time before courting her. She hoped he went with the proper path and gave her some time to change his mind.

Before he could get a chance to answer there was a loud commotion by the door and guards yelled to one another and at someone else. The doors flew open and the dinner guests gasped in horror. Susan wanted to flee from the room as her father entered with a look of pure hatred on his face.

o*o*o*o

Loki had vanquished many guards on his way to the dining hall and as he got to the door he thwarted the pair of sentries posted there. With one swipe of his hand they fell to the ground and Loki blasted open the door.

Inside the hall there were many guests, who rose from their seats to better see the commotion he'd caused. His gaze scanned over them and quickly landed on Sigrid. She cowered when he looked her way and he noticed that Eilif was standing in front of her protectively.

Thor bellowed a command at Loki, but he ignored it and strode over to his daughter. Eilif jumped in front of him, sword drawn.

"Move aside you maggot." Loki growled.

"What is the meaning of this?" Odin bellowed from the head of the table and Loki briefly looked to the man he once called father. Beside the king of Asgard the queen stood, arms crossed, a furious expression on her face.

"I do apologize for interrupting your joyous feasting," Loki gave a mocking bow to the monarchs, "But I have a matter I should like to discuss with my daughter and her would be lover."

"I don't love him!" Sigrid spoke up, fire in her eyes. The fire quickly vanished when Eilif shot her a look of anger and she once again became demure, "I mean, I just met him and I _do_ have a boyfriend back home so I'm kinda already taken…"

Loki had seen how she reacted at first and knew something was not right. This guard was doing something to get her to behave and as her father, Loki was not pleased. Had Eilif threatened her? Was that why she had lied about how she'd been trapped in the dungeon? Or was he manipulating her in some other way?

"You are on asgard now, any romantic relations on Midgard are considered null and void." Eilif snapped at Sigrid.

"Loki, how did you learn of Eilif's request?" Odin asked as Thor eyed his brother warily.

"I learned of it through a dungeon guard and thought that I might come and give my best wishes to the couple," Loki sneered and snatched Eilif's throat, the guard dropped his sword in surprise and clawed at Loki's hand, "Here are my best wishes!"

"Put me down, Laufeyson!" Eilif choked.

"Renounce your proposal to my daughter and I will gladly let you go, cur."

"Loki release him!" Someone shouted, and the sentiment was quickly echoed across the room. Thor and the Warriors Three had surrounded him with weapons drawn and even with his lack of air Eiliff smiled. However, after taking so many lives on Midgard Loki was fairly certain that one more wouldn't make much of a difference on his blackened soul so he continued to choke the guard, fulling planning to kill him.

"No, Loki stop," The voice of his daughter was trembling, but loud enough for everyone to hear, "You have to stop."

"He is worthless," The enraged father replied, "His intentions are not what they seem."

Sigrid placed her hand on his arm. "I know, but you need to stop."

He met her gaze and saw the fear in the eyes that matched his own. With one last frustrated growl, he flung the captain on the table and put his hands up. Thor was quick to restrain him.

"I'm sorry for causing a sight at your party, All-Father," Loki called as he passed, "But I suppose you know well how a father protects his child." As he was lead out of the room he heard Eiliff make one last remark to Sigrid.

"Well I certainly hope the insanity doesn't run in your family."

And the girl, wonder that she was replied: "I'm afraid it absolutely does."

o*o*o*o

The feast was cut short after Loki's appearance and Susan was certainly glad it did. As quickly as she could she made her way back to her bedroom - though she got lost once or twice - and flopped onto the massive bed. A maid came in a few minutes later and extinguished the lights in the room and Queen Frigga came in and said "goodnight". The the teen drifted into a fitful sleep filled with alien warriors, angry fathers, and Eiliff with a sickening grin.

Around what she guessed was three in the morning, Susan shot up in bed after a particularly disturbing dream. The room was dark except for a small red light in the corner, but something told her that the little glowing orb was not a source of comfort. The spot of light moved toward her and she could make out the outline of a man holding it. Eiliff.

"Not sleeping well, my dear?" He sneered.

"What are you doing here?!" She pushed aside her sheets and jumped out of bed, standing at level height with him. He seemed rather short for an Asgardian, but she supposed she was probably tall for a girl her age. Sometimes being part giant -frost or no- had its advantages.

"Thanks to your overprotective father I nearly died tonight, but you saved me. Why?" His eyes glowed red in the dark.

"You know perfectly well why." She crossed her arms.

He inched closer. "Say why. I want you to say it."

"Because if I hadn't Thor or someone would have saved you. And if I had sided with Loki - like I wanted to - then you would have hurt my mom."

"Correct!" He chuckled and squeezed her shoulder harshly, "And I want you to remember that. My connection on Midgard has orders to kill your mother if he doesn't hear from me once a week. If I die your mother perishes with me."

"I won't forget," Susan pulled away from him in disgust, "So if all you wanted to do was remind me then you can go."

Eiliff acted like he was leaving, but paused and his vile leer grew. "Oh, and one more thing! I almost forgot, silly me. You must be fully supportive of our courtship in the eyes of the All-Father."

She couldn't help snorting at this. "I don't even get why you'd wanna date me in the first place."

"Perhaps that announcement was a bit sudden. We'll let the idea sink in before bringing it up again. I want you to cozy up to Odin in the meantime. Then, when I do take over people will have less of a fit about it."

"How does that make any sense and what do I have to do with it?"

"If you and Odin get to be chums people may even think of you as his relation. They'd have less objection to a relative of the king ruling than her completely un-royal husband. All the while, you'll be my dear little puppet." The guard extinguished the glowing orb in his hand, but she could still see the moonlight from the window glint off his teeth when he smiled.

"Who said anything about marriage?!" She wheezed, feeling like someone had knocked the breath from her.

"Courtship generally leads to marriage. Isn't that how things are done on your miserable planet?"

"Sometimes I guess, but not when you're fifteen!"

"I'm sure it will take a few years for everyone to warm up to the idea," He shrugged and then turned to go once more, "Pleasant dreams, my dear, I'll see you in the morning."

When he was gone Susan sat on the edge of her bed numbly. There was no doubt that this was the worst and most exciting week of her life.


	17. Chapter 17

A familiar and muffled Beatles tune woke Susan up the next morning and if she hadn't been so confused she would have curled up in the huge bed and listened. As it was she sat up and looked around, trying to pinpoint exactly where _Here Comes the Sun_ was emanating from. She got out of bed and poked around her room until she got to the wardrobe. Throwing the door open she found her still unpacked suitcase. Hastily unzipping it she dug through the clothes until she came to her iPod.

"Mom you are an angel!" She grinned, knowing her mother must have smuggled the device in with her other belongings. The song had been set as her alarm and she was almost brought to tears to hear the familiar and happy tune chirping before her. Now, even if her life was a horrific mess she'd at least have her own music.

"What is that noise?" A voice by the door asked. Susan spun, clutching her iPod, and spotted Eiliff.

"Uh, just music."

The guard took a step closer and stared at the music player. The song was drawing to a close and Susan tucked the little blue device back in her suitcase. She smoothed her skirt and noticed that she'd fallen asleep in the fancy dress Frigga had found her. Whoops.

"That was Midgardian music?" He asked.

"Yup. One of my favorite songs. What kind of music do you have here?"

"Mostly long boring ballads. I quite like the sound of that song you just had on. Are all of the songs on Midg- on Earth like that?"

"Some, but not all. We've got all kind of music: sad, happy, romantic, angry, silly. We've probably got a song for every emotion and then some," She regarded him carefully and picked the iPod up again, "Do you want to hear some?"

He blinked and nodded. Susan flipped through the list and finally came to one she thought he might like. _Fireflies_ by Owl City streamed out and his mouth quirked up at the corner.

"What does this song mean? It sounds like nonsense."

"I'm not really sure. Bugs, I guess? Nah, probably something deep, but I don't know what." She shrugged as the song continued.

"If you do not understand it then why do you listen to it?"

"I like the tune and the lyrics are fun to sing. What's your favorite song?"

"I rarely listen to music. We do not have such devices to carry it with us, though I think it is a good idea. Perhaps you ought to lend it to one of the scientists here and they can make more," He gently touched the screen and looked at some of the titles, "However I think it would be quite noisy if everyone were to walk around playing their favorite songs."

"Oh!" Susan laughed, "That's what these are for," she pulled the earbuds out of her suitcase and plugged them in, "Now put this end in your ear."

"Interesting, I can still hear it but it would seem if I take it out the music has stopped."

"No, it's still going, you just can't hear it when the earbuds are out."

He quickly put them back in. "How wonderful. Would you let me borrow this sometime?"

"I don't think so, there is no way I'm going to risk losing it. Sorry." She took it back and hid it away in her suitcase again. She studied his face for a moment and realized that the man who had been hiding in the shadows the previous night with threats and glowing magic was the same as this curious young man. It was odd seeing a side of him that was not evil and conniving, but she supposed everyone had a good side. The thought briefly flashed through her head that perhaps her father had a good side as well, but the idea was dashed away.

"Thank you for sharing that bit of Earth culture with me, Sigrid," He nodded, "I've come to ask if you would like to have breakfast with me before I went to work."

"Well, I don't know… I should probably eat with Grandmother, Odin, and Thor. I don't know them very well yet and it would be nice to-"

"You misunderstand. I only ask as a formality, you have to come," He winked maliciously, "Think of your dear old mother!"

"Oh right. I almost forgot you were evil," She groaned, grabbing a pair of jeans and a blouse out of the bag and walking over to the restroom, "Give me a minute to get dressed."

"Hurry up, dear!" He called cheerfully.

"Yes, honey!" She snapped, slamming the door.

* * *

o*o*o*o

After a stern talking to and a few more lashes with the whip Loki had been left to his own devices in the cell. It was utterly dull. Frigga had sent him a few books so he had been reading through and trying to forget about the vile guard wooing his daughter. It was not an easy task. At one point he was trying so hard to forget about Eiliff that the book in his hands burst into flame from his pure concentration. He swore and threw the ruined book to the floor and stomped out the fire.

"Something on your mind Laufeyson?" An ever chipper voice asked.

"You realize that if I was not in here then it would be you on fire and not the book." Loki commented, sweeping the ashes under his cot with his boot.

"Sigrid and I had a nice time together this morning. Did you know she adores music? Over breakfast she confessed that she wanted to be part of something called Broadway."

If Loki hadn't been so furious he would have noticed that there was no scheming in the other man's eyes. No mischief or plots lay there. However, the fallen prince didn't notice because he was thinking about all of the ways he could kill this idiot.

"I know you feel as if you must get revenge on some person or another, and to do that you think you need to involve my daughter," He snarled, "But I'd appreciate it if you spent as little time with her as possible."

Eiliff cocked his head to the right. "I'm sure you'd like that. Too bad for you. Sigrid is an interesting girl. I quite enjoyed her company during breakfast," He snapped his fingers, "Que wall pounding… now."

Loki did indeed slam his fist into the force field. "You rat!"

"Oooh, that's inventive - not! Can't you think of any creative insults? I thought they called you Silvertongue."

"And they say my parents did a poor job of raising me," Loki said, glad to comply with the request of insults, "What did yours do, throw you to a herd of cows, sit back, and watch you eat dirt?"

Eiliff bristled and adjusted the sword on his belt. "Funny, I thought that's what your real parents did to you. Oh no, sorry, they just left you to die. You know, Laufey was a monster and all, but do we have any idea what your real mother was like? She must have really hated you to let the monster king throw you out."

"Perhaps they were blind to potential. You forget that I was chosen by the most powerful king in the realms after that."

"Everyone knows he did it so Thor would have a playmate and so that the Jotuns wouldn't attempt anything else."

Loki didn't let this worthless guard see that the comments stung. Instead they continued to hurl insults back and forth for the course of forty minutes before there was a small cough. Both men turned to see Sigrid holding two trays of food. She was blushing and trying to cover it up with a shy smile.

"You guys swear more than a pair of T-Rex at a vegan restaurant." The girl held the trays out and one began to tip precariously. Eiliff shot out a hand to steady it and then took it from her with an appreciative nod.

"What are you doing down here?" Loki asked, calming down a bit after the shouting match he'd just been involved in, "I would have thought Thor would know better to let you return to the dungeons."

"He doesn't know I'm here," She blushed again, "The only person who knows where I went is the guard who _was_ going to bring you your lunch."

"I told you not to wander around by yourself."

"It's fine, Loki." She rolled her eyes as Eiliff magically transported the food tray into Loki's cell and took the other tray for himself. Sigrid sat down next to the guard on the steps up to the cell. The father didn't miss the obvious lack of distance between them.

"Since when are you two so close?" He sneered. The girl was quick to scooch away from Eiliff and turn her bright red face away. She began picking at the blue bird necklace she wore.

"What have you been up to since this morning?" Eiliff asked, mouth full.

"Don't worry," She groaned, "I did what you asked."

"And what was that?" Loki asked. He detested not knowing what was happening around him and since he'd been locked in this cell he'd never felt more ignorant.

"I'll give you a clue!" Eiliff chirped, but Sigrid beat him to it.

"I asked Odin for some lessons about Asgard's history," She shrugged, "He seemed excited that I asked, but said he doesn't think he'll have time."

"I'm sure if it was Thor's child he would have agreed immediately." Loki muttered bitterly.

Sigrid quirked a brow. "Thor doesn't have kids, does he?"

Eiliff ignored the trickster. "Keep asking. If Odin shows an interest in something state that you are eager to learn about it."

"He's gonna think I'm such a suck up." The girl rolled her eyes.

"You'll inflate his already enormous ego."

"Frigga offered to teach me magic," Sigird said, eyes lighting up, "She says I'll probably be a natural considering-"

"No," Eiliff stated, shoveling more food into his mouth, "Say no and if you've already agreed then tell her you've changed your mind."

Loki glared at the other man. He knew what the guard was thinking. If Sigrid learned magic she would have some form of defense. For Eiliff's plan to work the girl would have to feel small and frail. It was a detestable ploy. If she wanted to learn the arts then this oaf should not stop her.

"Oh c'mon!" She stood up and glared down at him, "That's not fair!"

"Agreed," Loki spat, "Let her learn."

"And have her become as powerful as you?" He smiled and shook his head, "Not likely. Besides, Frigga has always had a soft spot for you, Laufeyson. If Odin sees a similar relationship forming again he won't want anything to do with Sigrid."

"So you're planning on getting close to the king," Loki commented, smirking, "Pity Odin can't stand anyone who has anything to do with Jotuns. He'll never see her as anything more than a responsibility."

"Maybe you're right, but that's not going to stop me from trying."

"Ugh, you guys are so hard to be around with all of your plotting and planning. I'm sick of it," Sigrid brushed off her skirt, waved goodbye, and began to leave, "Have fun figuring out the rest of my life, I'm going to go hang out with Thor."

"Yes! Do that! Everyone knows the way to Odin's heart is through his _favorite_ son!" Eiliff called happily.

"What in the realms are you going to do with that moron?" Loki asked.

"He said he was going to teach me how to fight. If I can't learn magic then I'm going to learn how to beat dudes up." She waved over her shoulder and continued to leave.

"No! Wait!" Eiliff exclaimed. He realized she was gone and sat down again with a swear, "That's not what I had in mind."

Loki laughed. "I can think of no one who has bested Thor in combat. She will learn well."

"Shut up." Eiliff muttered, irritated with this turn of events. Loki only laughed some more.

**A/N: Not dead! He he he... yeah. For those of you who did not see it on my profile or other stories: I took a long break from Fanfiction to get caught up on school. I'm back now, but I'm also not currently really into this story. I know it's not very nice of me, but I'm probably only going to update this story when I feel like it and that may not be for a while. However, if I don't take this approach then we're going to end up with some really boring, poorly written content and I don't think you want that. So for now this is probably all you're going to get. Sorry! Thanks for reading!**


	18. Chapter 18

"You are smaller than most of the opponents you will be facing, but you can use that to your advantage." Thor said, correcting Susan's stance.

"I never thought anyone would be calling me small. I've always been the tallest kid in my class." She snorted, bending her knees more and clenching her fists.

"That is wonderful!"

"I dunno, some of the other kids made fun of me. Especially in sixth grade because I had just gone through a growth spurt."

"They were probably jealous," Thor laughed, "Lift your elbow."

"My mom and I took self defense classes once. I can judo throw dudes."

"What does that even mean?"

Her eyes lit up. "I can show you! I'll throw you."

"Throw me? I am far too large to-"

"Here, grab my shoulder and just above my elbow. Perfect. Okay, are you ready?"

"Please do not hurt yourself. The queen would be furious - to say nothing of Loki."

"It's fine. Watch." She quickly positioned her feet and began using his weight to pull him down as she slid to the ground and used her foot to help throw him. When she was done he was on his back on the ground and Susan was jumping to her feet.

"Odin's beard!" Thor shouted, grinning wildly, "That _was_ impressive!"

"Thanks!" She offered him her hand and helped him up, "But that's pretty much the only trick I can remember."

"Then I shall teach you more!" He began helping her into a fighting stance and directing her every movement until she had a few basic moves down. By the time they were done with learning the basics, the sky was growing dark and, much to Susan's dismay, Eiliff appeared at the entrance to the training area.

"Your Highness," The guard bowed, "May I escort Lady Sigrid to the dining hall this eve?"

"If she wishes it." Thor shrugged.

"My dear?"

Susan inwardly groaned, but smiled on the outside. "Yeah, that'd be awesome. Can we make a quick stop at my room so I can get changed out of these sweaty clothes?"

"Of course." Eiliff offered his arm and she took it. They began strolling through the halls, leaving Thor to tidy up the training area.

"Training was fun." She commented as they walked.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself because you won't be doing such a thing again."

Susan tried to drop her arm from his, but he held firm. "Why can't I train with Thor? I thought you said you wanted me to spend more time with him!"

"Yes, but I don't wish for you to learn how to fight."

"But if Odin sees me fighting then maybe he'll like me more. After all, Loki told me he hated training when he was younger and Thor loves it. So if I love it too then Odin will see less of Loki in me and trust me more."

Eiliff scowled and squeezed her arm. "You are a clever one, aren't you? Very well, you can keep training, love, but only if the next time you see Odin you tell him that you have thoughts of courtship."

"Ugh. Fine." She stopped at her room and went inside, grabbing the dress from the previous night, as she had no other at the moment.

"You're going to where that again?"

"Frigga hasn't had me measured for new clothes yet… I was kind of busy hanging out with Thor." Susan ducked behind a changing screen that was in the corner and began tugging off her sweat drenched clothes.

"We'll have to remedy that soon. If you dress like a Midgardian no one is ever going to want you on the throne."

"I don't think anyone will anyways. Even the guys in the dungeon were grossed out by the fact that I'm part frost giant."

"Please don't remind me," He gagged, "The thought of marrying a Jotun is disturbing my appetite."

"Then don't do it!" She shouted at him through the screen, "We don't need to get married at all, ever!"

"Ah, but the plan!" Eiliff sighed, "The plan requires it."

"You know, if you weren't evil," Susan said, stepping around the screen, "You'd actually be a pretty decent guy."

"Thanks." He gestured for her to turn around and when she had he finished fastening the dress buttons and then pulled her hair up.

"What the heck are you doing?" She snapped, turning around and allowing her partially done hair to fall flat again.

"I _was _doing your hair, but you messed it up."

"Why?"

"Because letting your hair go wherever it wants makes you look like a child. We need to make you seem grown up enough to court."

"I can do my hair by myself, thank you very much." She grabbed a handful of her locks and began brushing through it. When it was smooth she began twisting it into a braid.

"No, no, no! That'll never do. Let me give it a go again."

Susan dropped her hair and reluctantly turned to allow him access. He quickly and efficiently swept it off her neck into a simply updo.

"What'd you do?"

"Nothing fancy. I don't really have much experience with hair."

Susan stepped over to a mirror. "Not bad."

"And you look much older now. We've accomplished what we set out to do and now we are running late for dinner." He grabbed her arm and pulled her out into the hall. The two began running in the direction of the banquet hall. Just the action of behaving in such a juvenile way in the palace made Susan giggle as she ran. The joy spread and soon Eiliff found himself smirking and then laughing right alongside her. When they finally got to the doors of the dining hall they were both out of breath and had to stop before entering.

Susan, hands on knees, couldn't stop laughing as she panted. Elbowing her, Eiliff set off a whole new set of giggles and they both erupted again.

"We need to stop." He gasped, straightening up and grinning.

Susan snorted loudly, which caused them both to start laughing again. So it continued, every time they would attempt to quiet their amusement they found something else to laugh at. The guards at the door were looking at them with concern, but made no move to help. They heard footsteps behind them, but were too consumed with merriment to turn and see who it was.

"I see why you asked to begin courting! You two are clearly in love." Thor's voice boomed from behind them. Both of the younger folk froze, all laughter come to a dead stop. They glanced at each other and realized that Susan was holding onto Eiliff's arm for support and Eiliff was gripping her waist. They jumped apart.

"Sorry," Susan muttered, "We were just…" She could think of no explanation.

"I told a joke." Eiliff tried. Thor only chuckled and went for the door handle, winking conspiratorially.

"I'm sure."

Susan blushed profusely and tried not to look at Eiliff. He was her enemy and her she was laughing with him as if he was her best friend or something. Cringing at what Loki would say to that, she followed behind Thor to the dining room. The guard captain fell in line behind them.

"As you were," He snapped at the two guards by the door, straightening his tunic.

* * *

When the meal was over, Susan was somewhat alarmed to find that she and Eiliff had talked amiably the whole time. She wasn't sure if it was the giggle fest they'd had before hand or just because he was trying to fool Odin into thinking there was a connection between the two young people. Either way it irritated her.

On the other hand, this meal was considerably more enjoyable than the previous night's. Of course, any event was usually brighter than an attempted murder by an angry father so the standards were not very high.

Even as most of the diners departed Susan found herself still telling Eiliff about some of her friends on Earth. He seemed genuinely interested, but then again, so did Odin. The king had been watching them throughout the evening with an unreadable expression. Frigga kept glancing their way with curious looks, but she was as hard to read as her husband.

"...and so Jermaine's braces got caught in the Astroturf and the coach was yelling at him to get up, but of course he couldn't and the ref finally went over to see if Jer was okay. It took them fifteen minutes to get him unstuck and there was an imprint of his face in the ground for the rest of the football season." Susan was laughing at her own story, but Eiliff seemed mostly confused.

"What is Astroturf? And a ref?"

"Uh," She shook her head, "Nevermind. But yeah, Jermaine is my boyfriend on Earth. Or, I guess he was."

"You'd do best to forget him." Eiliff warned.

"Oh shut up. Have you ever had someone you loved or have you always been this evil?"

"Please, you don't love that boy. You were infatuated. And for your information, yes, I've courted before." He crossed his arms, fingers fiddling with a metal decoration on his jacket.

"Whatever. I think I'm going to bed for the evening. Good night!" She rolled her eyes at him and turned to leave the dining hall.

"Sigrid, wait a moment." Odin's deep voice stopped her in her tracks.

Not sure how to address her grandfather/guardian/new monarch, Susan approached him slowly and curtsied. She gave him a small smile, which she was pleased to see him return.

"Yes sir?"

"I have time now to go over what we discussed this morning," He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "If you have time, that is."

"Oh yeah! Absolutely! That'd be cool!"

"Wonderful. I must attend to something this moment, but if you will meet me in my study in say… fifteen minutes we can discuss the history of the realms and the role Asgard has played in that history."

"Okay! I can't wait."

"You are very eager to learn," Odin commented, "Much like your father when he was your age. Remember that knowledge is power, but wisdom is knowing what to do with that power. Choose wisely how you use what I teach you."

Before she could formulate any sort of response to that sage advice, the king left to attend to whatever matter he needed to sort out. Susan looked to Eiliff, who gave her a questioning look. She gave him a thumbs up and his almost pleasant face broke into a sinister grin.

She sighed and wondered if she'd ever get used to how quickly he could turn from human to monster. The optimistic part of her hoped she wouldn't have to be around him long enough to get used to anything he did. But, that was wishful thinking and she knew it.

**A/N: Wow, we're ten days away from the one year anniversary of the last time I updated this story. I AM SO SORRY LOYAL FOLLOWERS! I AM A REALLY BAD UPDATER! I'll go sit in the corner of shame and work on another chapter. **

**Thanks for reading/reviewing/favoriting/following! You da bomb diggity!**


	19. Chapter 19

A loud swear echoed through the halls of the New York SHIELD base and was followed by a grunt and yelling. Nick Fury barely had time to look up from his lunch - a burrito from his favorite joint down the block - before a flailing, shrieking woman burst into his office and slammed her palms down on his desk.

He blinked in surprise and tried to recognize the petite lady with shortish auburn hair. Her eyes seemed like they were on fire, or like they'd like to light him on fire.

Since his mother hadn't raised him to speak with his mouth full, he chewed for a brief moment and swallowed before addressing the obviously angry woman. When he opened his mouth to speak she immediately cut him off with a growl.

"Mr. Fury, I have been trying and trying to get in to see you but those incompetent nitwits outside told me that I don't have the 'clearance'," Here she made air quotes and rolled her angry eyes, "To speak to you unless you arrange the meeting."

"So you kicked the nitwits in the shins and came in anyway?" Nick asked, seeing two agents hobble in behind the woman.

"Not the shins," She sniffed airily, "_Regardless_ of where I did and did not kick them, I am here now and I want some answers. If you don't give them to me then I am going to become a bigger thorn in your side than my ex ever was."

"Ah, Ms. Mort!" Fury said, finally recognizing her as the mother of Susan Mort. He hadn't had much time to think about the child he'd sent to Asgard in the last few days… he'd been rather busy trying to clean up the mess the kid's father had caused. Not to mention he was swamped trying to cover the Council's butts so no one knew that a nuke was fired into one of the most famous cities in the United States. The problems he'd sent to Asgard had escaped his mind.

"What can I help you with?"

She blasted out a few more swears before focusing her glare back on him and clenching her fists tightly.

"I want to know what is happening with Susan." Her jaw was clenched too and each word sounded angrier than the last.

"I'm afraid I don't know, Ms. Mort. I haven't had communications with Asgard since-"

"Well you had better get them, hadn't you?!" A sprinkle of spittle flew from her mouth and contaminated Fury's burrito. He scowled and stood up, matching her glare with his own, one eyed one.

"What is it specifically that you want to know?" He snapped, "Because unless you give me some actual questions I won't be able to give you the answers that you so _desperately _want."

"Where is she?"

"Asgard. From what Thor said, she'll be living in the palace."

"Where is her father?"

"Last I heard he was in Asgard too. They might have executed him, they might have just tossed him in the dungeon. Personally, I'm hoping for the former."

She paled a little at that and Fury inwardly winced, remembering she had once loved the crazy alien. Or at least had a fling with him.

"And when will Susan be coming home? From what you said before it sounded like it was a permanent situation, but _that can't be._"

Fury scratched his goatee, unable to meet the mother's eyes.

"I know it's not great. I know it's going to be hard for you to hear this, but Susan Mort will never set foot on Earth again."

"No," Amy stated, "That's stupid. By law I am her legal guardian. This is kidnapping. Abduction. Until I see the paperwork that says Loki or Thor or whoever is supposedly taking care of her is legally allowed to do so I won't give this up. I'll take it to the press. I'll sue."

"We have those papers pending. They will say that you are no longer fit to be her parent and that Susan is now a ward of the government. The government deems it best for her to spend the remainder of her childhood - and possibly her life - in Asgard. If you really want to take your story to the media we will be more than happy to make your incapability as a parent public. SHIELD doesn't mess around, Ms. Mort. If we want there to be evidence of you being a bad parent then there will be evidence that makes Hitler look like a decent guy next to you."

It was almost as if he could see the steam pouring from her ears as her face grew redder and redder. There was complete silence for a whole minute before she boiled over. Some of the things she said made the agents at the door blush. When she'd calmed down enough for professional conversation, she was handcuffed to the chair because she'd attempted to throw Fury's burrito at him. There was still a piece of lettuce stuck in the strap of his eye patch.

"I apologize," She ground out, "But I would like point out that you stole my child from me and shot her off into outer space."

"Your point is noted."

"I would also like to point out that I ought to be allowed visiting rights."

"It's not really my call. Odin does what he wants with his realm. If he wants to let you visit your daughter that's up to him, but I don't know how to get ahold of him to ask."

"Yell at Heimdall for a bit." Amy muttered.

"In the meantime, it was wonderful to see you again. If we hear anything that we want you to know then an agent will alert you. Good day, Ms. Mort."

Fury nodded to an agent, who came forth and unlocked the handcuffs. As soon as they were off Amy swung a punch right at Fury's good eye. He let her. Then she was escorted off the premises to be dealt with at a later time. As soon as she was gone Nick picked sadly at the remnants of his burrito and then got back to organizing the cleanup of the city.

* * *

Odin was enjoying a brief moment of quiet while he took his lunch and worked through an agricultural problem that one of his advisers had brought to his attention. The lunch consisted of a savory sandwich loaded with meat and vegetables. It was definitely one of the best lunch foods the royal kitchens had to offer and Odin was brought joy with every bite of it.

That is, until it was yanked out of his hand and thrown in the trash bin by the door.

Shocked by the sudden disappearance of his beloved sandwich, Odin jumped to his feet and glared around his study. There was no one in sight. Then he heard rapid, light footsteps from down the hall and inwardly groaned as he deduced what had happened to his lunch. Magic had pried it from him. And the person controlling the magic…

"Frigga, that was a perfectly good sandwich."

"Odin's beard, Odin! How can you sit here and gorge yourself at a time like this!" The Queen exclaimed, storming into the room, shimmering gown fluttering with her every movement.

"At a time like what, my dear?" He sincerely hoped it wasn't something to do with Loki. He was not in the mood to discuss their wayward son.

"I've just been to tea with Heimdall."

"Oh?" That was not what he'd been expecting.

"First off, you should really give the poor man a raise. I don't know what he is paid now but he honestly deserves twice whatever it is."

"This is why you threw away my sandwich? So that I'd give Heimdall a raise?"

"No! Don't be ridiculous. Heimdall told me about what is happening on Midgard."

"And what, if I may ask, is happening?"

"Amy Mort!"

"Sigrid's mother. I expect she is mourning greatly."

"She's absolutely livid right now and I do not blame her!" Frigga was pacing. A pacing queen was not a happy queen. An unhappy queen meant an unhappy kingdom, "That monster Nicholas Fury was the one who suggested Sigrid come live with us. He stole away the poor woman's child! And now he is saying that dear Amy shall never see her offspring again!"

"It is very unlikely."

"You great oaf!"

Odin was not sure whether to be offended or amused that his spouse had just swatted his arm as if he was a misbehaving child. He chose to keep his face blank while he waited for the rest of Frigga's explanation.

"Odin!" She hissed, "A child has been separated from her mother and you sit and nibble at your sandwich?!"

"Are you saying you wish to send Sigrid back to Midgard? My dear, I think that you need someone here to keep you from fretting over our younger son. And on top of the distress you would be in if Sigrid left, Earth would not take kindly to having her returned to them. The child of a so recently made enemy would not find many allies. Director Fury was right in sending her away."

"I know these things. They would hunt her and harm her on Midgard. But I am not speaking of sending her back."

"What _are_ you speaking of?"

"Nicholas Fury is bound and determined to keep Sigrid and Amy apart forever. Amy asked if she might visit Asgard to see her daughter once in awhile. That wretched man told her she could not because you had not given permission."

"To be fair to Fury, I did not. Nor do I think it is a good idea…"

Suddenly the sandwich was no longer in the trash bin, but instead smeared onto Odin's face. He sighed and wiped off his golden eye patch.

"I have heard these words from my own husband's mouth and yet I do not believe he would utter them!" Frigga exclaimed, "You _will_ give permission to Amy Mort to travel to our home and visit her daughter. I don't care for how long, but you will do this or you will sleep on the couch, Norns help you!"

"Frigga…"

"Arrange it. Now. I will share the good news with our granddaughter."

"She is not our grand-" He cut himself short when he saw his wife's murderous expression, "I shall speak to Heimdall about opening the Bifrost. It should not be so hard now that we have the Tesseract."

Frigga gave him and kiss on the cheek while her magic swiftly remade his sandwich.

"I knew there was a reason I love you."

"But do not expect it to become a regular occurrence to have Midgardian visitors. If we keep this up Thor will be wanting to bring that scientist here and then SHIELD will be requesting tours. I won't have it!"

"Of course not, my dear, now hop to it."

When the queen left the king grouchily bit into his sandwich and then spit it out. He'd forgotten it had been in the trash.

"And it was looking up to be such a good day."

**A/N: If I named my chapters I would call this one "Angry Mama's Throwing Food at Eye Patch Wearing Men". ;) Thanks for reading!**


	20. Chapter 20

"Siiiiigriiiiiiid?" Thor called cheerfully as he stepped into her bedroom with his hands hidden behind his back.

"Thooooooor?" She called back, getting up from the desk in the corner with a smile, "What can I do for ya?"

"My goodness, reading all of those dusty tomes are you? I don't think anyone has opened that book in a good three centuries. I remember studying it as a boy."

"Odin is teaching me about the realms. He recommended this book for some basic knowledge. It has really interesting information in it…"

"But it is as dry as a desert during a drought," Thor nodded, "I remember it vividly."

"Deserts are kinda always in droughts…" She smirked, "So what can I help you with?"

"I have brought my favorite niece in all the realms a present!" He declared proudly.

The girl's eyes lit up and she smiled brightly at him.

"A present? You didn't have to do that."

"You are a princess and you shall be spoiled! Besides, it's really more of a practical gift than anything, so don't get your hopes up too high. It may bore you terribly."

"I'm not a princess," But she was staring eagerly at the brown paper package he handed her all the same.

"Go on! Open it!" Thor was almost bursting with excitement.

"Okay, okay!"

Paper flew through the air. Susan gasped when the present was uncovered and immediately held it up for inspection.

"They're beautiful! This is so cool!"

"I thought you might like them for training. They were always your father's weapons of choice."

The daggers gleamed beautifully. The blades seemed to be made of some sort of iridescent metal and shown like rainbows when tilted in the light. The handle, wrapped in soft leather, fit neatly into her hand as if it had been made just for her.

"Loki used daggers like these? He seems like more of a spear guy to me."

"He, like any prince of the realm, is trained to use all manner of weapons. However, his style of fighting always involved a lot of magic. Stealth was his favorite tool and daggers like these are as stealthy as they come."

"And you prefer the hammer?"

"If you had the choice between any normal weapon and Mjolnir, which would you choose?"

"Okay, a magical hammer is pretty awesome too. But gosh, these knives are awesome! I can't wait to learn how to use them! Do you want to start training now?"

Thor smiled and tapped the ancient book on her desk.

"Ah, but you have many studies to keep up with."

"That can wait! C'mon Thor!"

"Very well, but I must warn you, though I know how to use these tools you will find there are many more skilled at this than I. I'd suggest when we are done you go ask your Grandmother for tips."

"Well, if Loki's the best then why don't I go ask him?" She wanted to tell him about the talk she'd had with Frigga the day previous. Her mother was coming to Asgard and she wanted to share the news with everyone. Everyone but Eiliff, naturally. But perhaps with Amy in the palace the guardsman wouldn't be able to do her any harm and Susan would be able to tell Odin and Thor what really happened in the dungeons and what Eiliff was up to.

"Because you are forbidden from going to the dungeon. We will not allow him to deceive us again," Thor held out his arm for her and she took it, fingering the knives with her other hand as they walked.

It wasn't that she really wanted to spend time with her father, but she really did want to learn how to use the daggers to their full capacity. Talking to him was something she needed to do as well, but that was becoming more and more difficult with Eiliff always hanging about.

Luckily, he had the day off today and had told her he wouldn't be back until that evening. So this was the best time to sneak in some plotting. But first she might have to do some plotting to sneak in the dungeons.

* * *

At first he didn't recognize her. The maids uniform and different hairstyle - hair rubbed through with black and done up in the style maids wore - disguised her at a glance. Her face was tilted downward, but he could still spot the smile on her lips from a mile off.

"Pleased with your costume are you?" He asked when she stopped in front of his cell, a pile of towels in hand.

"It got me past Thor so, yeah, I think I did a pretty good job." Her chin lifted haughtily.

"Yes, but next time be sure to change the gait of your walk. Often times, the way a person moves is just a recognizable as their face. Other than that you did well," He stood up and looked her over, "I must say, black hair suits you. Not as well as the red, of course."

"I'm not here to talk about disguise techniques… although maybe later. I needed to tell you something," She looked around the prison cautiously, "Mom's coming to Asgard!"

Loki would have been embarrassed to admit it, but the notion filled his stomach with butterflies. Amy Mort in Asgard. How often in the past fifteen years had he hoped for that very thing? Sure now it would be in less than ideal circumstances and she was probably still furious with him, but she was coming to Asgard. He fought off a grin and blinked indifferently.

"Oh? And why does that concern me?"

"Well, if she's here do you think it will be easier or harder for Eiliff to hurt her? Because I'm thinking it will be harder and then we can tell Thor all about his plans and then I won't have to date the guy!"

He could see the gears turning in her mind as she thought her scheme through.

"And then I could visit you again and you could teach me how to use these!" She pulled three daggers, much like his own, from within the folds of the towels. It warmed his cold heart to see her so excited to spend time with him and he was desperately trying to think of ways not to blow this conversation.

"Where did you get those?" He asked, trying to sound polite.

"Thor gave them to me! Aren't they cool?" She admired the blades with a smirk, "He taught me the basics - and I'm not very good yet - but I thought you might be able to give me some pointers. He says you're the best with knives."

"And what does our fiendish guard friend have to say about this?"

"Who cares? He's gone for the day so I can do whatever I want. I'm thinking about sneaking in a quick magic lesson with Frigga when she gets done attending to some matter with the sorcery academy. Then maybe I'll flirt with somebody in front of Odin or wear all green and gold and parade around in your helmet." She was grinning wickedly as she tucked the daggers back into the towels.

"He's out for the day? Hmm, I thought the dungeon seemed more cheerful."

Sigrid laughed with a toss of her head. Loki couldn't help but smirk as well. He wondered if all teenagers were like this; last time he'd seen her she'd been about ready to have a fit and now she was laughing with him. Perhaps it was just the joy of not having Eiliff watching her every move that made her so giddy.

"So, when will your mother be coming?"

"That's the hard part. Not for a few months. Odin isn't too happy about the situation and apparently Director Fury doesn't want my mom coming up here, so neither of them is in any rush to make that happen," She sat down on the ground and leaned back on the golden energy field, "Frigga says that Odin won't let it happen until August. But hey, then she'll be here for my birthday!"

Inwardly pleased that he would have some time to prepare before his ex showed up, Loki gave his daughter a sympathetic look.

"Pity it will be so long."

"Yeah," She sighed and then turned to look at him, "It's so weird to think that you guys used to be a couple. You're so different."

"Opposites attract, as they say."

"I guess. Do you ever regret leaving her?" Her blue eyes bored into his inquiringly.

"Every time I think of her. Each moment spent in your company," He looked away, "I'd thought I was over it. When I set out to invade Midgard I considered trying to find her again, but I thought it might be best just to let her live her life."

"Y'know, if you'd won, even if I hadn't been there, she would have marched up to Stark Tower and demanded to speak with you," She smirked, "Then she probably would have yelled at you for a few hours."

"Ah, but if I'd won then I would have been her ruler and I could have simply ordered her away," He grinned too, "But I wouldn't have. She could have yelled at me for days and I would still love her."

Sigrid sat up straighter and her smile vanished.

"You still love her?"

Loki silently cursed. He hadn't meant to let that slip.

"She certainly hates _me_."

"Well, yeah, I'm not your biggest fan either. But do you still love her?"

"Did you know, right before we left Earth, she came to speak to me?" Changing the subject might be the only way to get around answering the question.

"What did you two talk about?" Sigrid's eyes widened and the evasion seemed to have worked.

"Not much. It was mostly her pleading with me to try and convince the others to let you stay. I refused her and it was pretty much all arguing after that," He crossed his arms and looked down. He'd wanted for years to see her again and when he did all he did was sneer and scoff, "Norns, I miss her."

"You _do _still love her!"

"Don't go spreading the word, Sigrid," He glared, "Or I'll never teach you how to use those daggers."

"Can I tell her at least?"

"You must keep it secret especially from her," He noticed a crafty gleam in her eyes, "And do not think you'll be getting us back together again."

"Oh come on! It would be like _The Parent Trap_, 'cept I don't a have a mystery twin sister," She smiled and took the daggers out once more, "But I won't tell, I promise."

"Show me whatever poor stance Thor taught you," Loki ordered gesturing to the weapons, "By Yggdrasil, you've much to learn if that's how you think you stand when throwing a knife. Put your weight on your back foot - no, no, you look like you're attempting some bizarre dance move! Let's try this again…"


End file.
